Posted by: tlnemethy | November 4, 2013

‘Dillo Dragons

‘Dillos ‘dillos. I’ve been on a ‘dillo hunt since I saw that first dude run through the brush on the path to the parsley pasture. They’re very intriguing critters. I mean, I guess I never really think creatures like that are something I might stumble across on a walk, but with all these new states I can’t help but need to adjust DSCF0313my notions to fit the region I’m in. In Louisiana, a few years back, I was just driving around with my mum and step dad when I’m thrust from the car to “coerce” an armadillo into moving. Like herding, I suppose, but without any idea of how to do it. More like me running through a field after an armadillo, flapping my arms and struggling to breath in the exertion. Broad daylight too. The thing is, armadillos are mostly nocturnal. I was most likely running after a rabid beast. Idiot.

Apparently, the dogs here are natural-born armadillo hunters and they can kill them if their jaws fit around the shell. Some sneaky bastards can elude the dogs for years until they grow too large for the dogs to get a grip, effectively gaining immortality. Smart devils. They root around in the ground, digging up patches of earth as they rummage for food. You can sometimes see their dens hollowed out of the sides of dirt walls.

I boasted that I’d cook one if we caught it.

And then, they told me armadillos were the only creature besides humans known to carry leprosy.

I’m not sure I’d love the flavor of leprosy. A little too earthy for me, with a hint of rancid. Maybe that works for some people, DSCF0315but I’m probably not gonna go licking anything rumored to have leprosy. No thank you. I’ll pass.

I’d kinda forgotten about the traps set around the farm until I walked back up to the house from feeding the cows their dinner and saw A FRIGGIN’ ‘DILLO sitting on the deck. And of course, unconsciously, I shouted those very words to the sky as a bounce went into my step and I practically ran to the cage. What an interesting creature. Cute ears, fluted from his rather awkward shaped head. I imagine that you could say armadillos are the bastard children of common wharf rats and dragons. Mythical looking, elusive, completed in shades of gray. A monochrome masterpiece.

I think my excitement got the dogs all excited. Perhaps even my whispers of “what is it?” That very question, when asked in a particular manner, will get them into hunting mode and they’ll immediately start prowling perimeters for an unseen delicacy. Sure, I’m an instigator. The dogs just kinda simmered down and awkwardly sniffed at it through the cage. No fun in trapped prey.

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Posted by: tlnemethy | October 29, 2013

Descent. A Loss in Elevation.

Fall. The act of losing elevation. A descent. But it could also be a season bathed in pumpkin spice and a medley of foliage. Maybe that’s why fall is named as it is… the descent of leaves from their treetops. It is an act, but also an embodiment of change. The curtain closing on another pass of seasons. It is my favorite.DSCF0262

I’ve got a tickle in my throat right now, a barely there irritation that spells climate shifts and my stubbornness for not wanting to put on pants, to hold onto the summer. I don’t know why I hold so tightly every year. Fall is my season. Fall is when I feel the most connected to my environment, to the small moments of frost glimmering along the surface of the grass, but I also feel the most disconnected from my family, usually so many states of fallen leaves away from me.

There’s a distinctive crinkle underneath your footsteps the moment you can officially call fall. It’s crisp and clear and completely undeniable. Usually my feet begin to tingle on hardwood flooring or chilled tiles, the cold seeping up my limbs and into the very core of me. But it’s a cold I welcome, an alertness is borne and a vigor is produced. There is motivation to move in the outdoors, if only to just warm yourself. Today, the sky is a murky gray that lightens over the distant treetops into the possibility of brightness. It drizzles. And every now and then a small flurry of leaves are shaken from their fingertip grip on a branch. The beauty is undeniable.

If you lurk long enough in one certain spot, long enough to listen with a raptness that surprises even you, you’ll find that the lapping of currents can be heard from the near banks of the river . Or the flickering of cow hide as they crowd together with raindrops making their fur glossy and slicked. The flies aren’t out today. The air too seems huddled in stillness, like it’s snug in the warmth of itself. Still.

I have the distinctive desire to carve a pumpkin. But we don’t have any pumpkins on the farm. Maybe I’ll carve a watermelon or a butternut squash. We have enough of those. I don’t want to return home when it is slushy or the dreary colors of day-after-snow. Home is not home unless it’s fall. Forgive me my absence for yet another of your perfect seasons. Set the table one place shy and hang up one less jacket on that peg by the door. For now, only for now.

Because with me arrives the scent of tangy squash and spiced apples, grown with care and ready to make my arrival the colors of oranges and yellows and browns that were dearly missed.

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Posted by: tlnemethy | October 21, 2013

To The Company Store

Success is supposedly the best revenge.

I’m not very vengeful, I don’t think. But, to be successful is something I’m striving for. There are, of course, different means of success. There are the versions that require monetary wealth, those with a large circle of peers who respect you, or even those that include a wealth of experiences. I didn’t jump right into the workforce after college and I guess you could suppose that I’m behind the curve on an “adult job.” I have the degree. In fact, I graduated with the degree a few years earlier than I was supposed to and that kind of dedication and promise was supposed to easily transition me into a lifetime of working the same job that I’d been training for.

After Alaska, which was supposed to be my last hurrah before the real world, I just kept moving around and working different jobs. It isn’t something that employers love to see, not really. They want stability and the promise of a good long stay in their employ not a nomad who just so happens to be wandering through. I can understand that. But I’m a writer. Born and bred for the sound of a keyboard clicking away after a long hard day of doing something brand new. I’m a storyteller, yes. A storyteller. Give me your story and I’ll add it to my collection.

Sure, sometimes I struggle to meet the payments on my college loans. I’m not frivolous by any means, but still with the struggle. I sold my soul to the metaphorical company store and now I’m just laboring to etch away at the accumulated debt. Those company stores have many guises.

The longer I spend outside of college without working my degree, the harder it becomes to fall back on. Why would a company hire me when I “so obviously” wasn’t meant to be hired fresh out of college?

Experience.

I haven’t been working the same genre of jobs for my entire life and I haven’t gotten dulled by the monotony. I’m fresh, though I come with a wealth of experience. I can relate to a whole hoard of different people through my challenges and my setbacks, my goals and my continued efforts. I know the dockworkers of Alaska and the college students who stand for 16-hour shifts to fillet King Salmon. I’ve interacted with farmers in the Ozarks, working alongside them in the fields and the greenhouses, knee deep in a river’s current and hard-packed shit of a barn stall. Where the customer stands, I once stood and worked. Familiarity goes a long way in the real world. Knowing how to react when the holiday rush starts to affect customer moods is a learned skill. Reading about it is not the same as having to seek out your own solutions. As much as it is needed; there isn’t a manual for life. College gives you the tools to use, but you still have to adapt them to fit your own unique situation. No wonder why students have to go through the constant debacle of needing experience to get work experience. A vicious circle it is. Though I’m not specifically working in my field right now, I really am getting the best experience to help me in my endeavors. Forget the longevity of my jobs and forget the locations, but remember the fact that I’d be hired back in a heartbeat.

Damn straight, I’m successful.

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