One Crazy Night in the Woods!

My new home is in the woods! We live on more than an acre and a large chunk of it is...well, woods. It's a beautiful and serene environment. Often I sit on my back deck and drink in the sweet tranquility. I love the wildlife and sometimes even the solitude.

Unfortunately, with the lovely comes the love-less. I am having my first experiences with some aspects of country life that I am not so taken with. The number one offender...the septic system.

We have a septic tank. I am not sure where it is because it is buried under the ground. I am not sure how it works, as I try not to think about that kind of nastiness to much. I do, however, know where the septic alarm is...as last night at 11:48, in a torrential downpour it went off, emitting the most heinous sound, waking up all the children and requiring me (Ben is, of course, out of town) to go out in the rain to hit the big, red, blinking button to turn it off. (Why the bright red emergency shut-off button connected to the side of the house never gathered my attention and curiosity before remains a mystery.) With the threat of sewage backing up into my house I am definitely more interested in the whole process. Now, as I await a septic professional to tell me whether or not I can flush...I pine for city sewage facilities in the worst way.

Second on the offenders list...trees. Now this seems like a broad statement. Let me be more clear. I am not a fan of falling trees. Especially falling trees that choose 3 am to make their loud and terrifying presence known. Even more especially after one has already been woken up not even three hours earlier by a SEPTIC ALARM.

Needless to say, we had a huge storm over the past few days. Literally, it rained for 40 hours. Roads washed out, river banks overflowed, trees toppled and I got very little sleep. We were fortunate to have no house damage. We lost two trees, a septic system and 2 beetles Spencer was keeping in his Critter Keeper on the back porch. We gained a huge appreciation for indoor plumbing, chain saws and sump pumps. (Just keep on pumping little friend!! Just keep on pumping!!)

Ahhhh, back woods livin'!! This is the life...oh, um, can I please borrow someone's bathroom?