Embroidery of Thoughts

Country Adventure

I visited a new friend at last after postponing it for a week. It was a long and winding drive to the small town of Sylvester, down South Georgia. We passed lush green cow pastures, cotton farms, peanut farms, corn farms and lots of animal farms.  It has that very country feel to it on our way over there.  When we got there, their house was  actually situated within the farm, just off the road. The house couldn't be seen from the road, but their mailbox clearly indicated where the house was. We drove through the open gate and there it was. I didn't know what to expect since this was the very first time I meet them both. I have seen both on the video cam, so I recognized Jonathan as soon as we pulled the drive way. There was another older man whom he was talking to, which we later learned he was there to fix the air conditioner. He had it fixed just in preparation for my arrival. It was a bit warm when we got inside, but with the ceiling fan and abother big fan on the floor, you wouldn't notice that the air conditioner wasn't working.  We started by introducing each other since my husband never met or talked to them.  It was a bit awkward, Racquel is very new, she has just been in the country for nearly three months. And she speaks in the very Filipino manner, but with confidence which I admire. When I think back those days when I was new to the country, she did better than I did. I was a bit shy then and rarely talked.  It made me uncomfortable that she would let her husband do this and do that, I guess out of confusion with our presence. She instructed her husband to start the grill, which he did. As the charcoals were getting hot, we drove through the gate and went inside the farm where they had about eleven cows and and eleven goats grazing the grass.  Jonathan said that he sold about six cows this month, which is a good source of money while starting a new life with his new Filipina wife.  While we drove through the grass and into the field, the cows and goats ran after the truck, expecting food to be delivered. It was my first time to tour a cow farm. Of course the property was well fenced so the animals can't wander off. They were provided water through a faucet and a big tin container. On the side of the open field were trees where they stay when the weather gets hot. At the back of the house is a pond. Maybe as wide as a track field. The weather was warmer over there as they as closer to the tropics, close to Florida.

After the tour, we went back inside the house to cool off, while Jonathan prepared the kabobs for grilling. We sat by the living room trying to familiarize ourselves to their place.  Racquel brought my luggage and stuff to a room close to the living room. Which I presume one of Jonathan's kids stay when they visit because it was full of toys and posters of younger actors like Ashton and Orlando. The room was neat and well kept.

After having dinner with us, J decided he has to be on his way since he has to go to work that evening. We walked him to the car until he drove off. Racquel showed me around. We went into the house next door which I later learned it was Jonathan's mom's house which she left to him when she passed away. It was under renovation and they told me that they willmove to that house after it's renovation. We went around the house, there were some blue berry trees and a pear tree with fruits hanging all over it's branches. Some fell on the ground. On the ground were branches and leaves and dried woods and ashes evident of a recent burning. Jonathan said that they someyimes burn the dirt instead of bringing everything to th dumspter. 

In between the two houses, was a pool. Clear and blue water was gleaming and sparkling as the sun rays reflected through the clear and bright blue water.

We went inside and chat and watched some TV shows. Later that evening, Racquel wanted to go to the grocery store so she could practice driving. She did very well during the driving, except she was confused when Jonathan told her to go to the left lane. She thought she has to turn left and she was adamant to turn left and slowed on the intersection when she saw the traffic light turned yellow. Of course, Jonathan was nervous  trying to direct her  with controlled anger. He then told her to park next to Bruster's where we got some ice cream and sat outside while chatting. I got peach flavor in a small cup, while Racquel got a big cone of mint chocolate swirl, Jonathan got Chocolate cake fudge ice cream.  Later, we headed to Wal-Mart where I saw a bunch of Mexican guys. They were all over the store. I later learned that they are off on the weekends. Most of them work at the farms. A lot of them think me and Racquel were Mexicans too, they would stare at us. Probably when they hear us talk they realize we are not one of them. We headed back to their place. But on our way, it started raining. And as we drove passed the farms, the rain poured, we can barely see the road. It poured so hard, there were lightning and thunder. It was pouring hard when we reached the driveway. There were even hail dropping on top of the truck like pebbles drooping from the sky. Then there was a loud thud! Which we later found out it was a pine tree branch that fell on top of the truck. It was  scary, as we stayed in the car. Jonathan went inside the house to check on the power. Alas! There wasn't any power. It was dark, they both looked for  the flashlight. We sat at the living room in the dark. They kept a small falshlight lighted. Jonathan called the power company and found out that power will resume at 11:30. So, we stayed up chatting as the rain poured. Jonathan fell asleep while me and Racquel sat on the couch chatting about our past lives and everything under the sun. When 11:30 came, there was no power yet. So we decided to open the windows and try to go to bed. And that's just what we did. The windows had screen so we didn't have any problem with bugs coming inside our rooms. I tried to sleep, it was hard, it was muggy, and sticky and worst we didn't have water to shower with. I turned and rolled and slept a little bit until I heard some croaking sounds from outside the window which I presumed were frogs if not, maybe those  white cow birds since it almost sounded like flamingos or ducks. Whatever they were had kept me awake. But of course I tried to get some sleep. When we woke up the next day, there wasn't power yet. My goodness, we didn't have water, we can't cook, we couldn't do anything. We then decided to go Waffle House. Without showering, we just got dressed. After we got dressed the power finally came on. We decided we just go ahead, and shower later.

After breakfast, we decide to go swimming. We stayed on the swimming pool until lunch time. We cooked adobo and I sauted string beans with fresh red hot chili peppers. Then we ate with gusto, as Jonathan didn't want lunch yet. We went back to the swimming pool after eating.  We swam and chat until it was time to prepare dinner. When we got back into the house we played "Lord of the Rings" which lasted for hours and so we didn't have time to prepare dinner. We just had cup noodles.  After the first, we watched the second part. It was an endless adventure. Later we found out that we went to bed about four in the morning. The clock in the kitchen was set to about two hours late, so we didn't realize it was already already in the wee morning hour. We got up about 12 high noon, and same thing happened we didn't realize the clock was wrong. We watched the third part of the "Lord of the Rings". When we were done watching, Jonathan said it was already four in the afternoon. We jumped quickly as we didn't realize how late it was. I planned on leaving that evening, so we decided to go swimming before I pack my stuff. We did go to the pool and then dragged ourselves out to pepper for dinner. She played the "Harry Potter II" while we eat. But I wasn't able to watch all of it. I had to pack my stuff. Too bad we didn't have DVD player. I could have borrowed the movies. Instead I borrowed some books from their shelves. I could have stayed for another day, but I miss J and miss home. I could go back another day. I gathered all my stuff and stuck them at the trunk of their car. We headed back to Macon passing through the long and winding road carpeted with cotton farms and animals . We arrived to Peach Outlet where J came and picked me up. It was a nice weekend get -away for me. It was a two days experience of life in the country side which almost reminded me of life in the province. Till next visit again.

posted by Unknown @ 9:04 AM