There are a few things in this world that give me a fainting heart. One of those is when all five kids are having a wrestling match which sounds wild and harrowing just to listen to. But when I overhear Logan yell, “CHARGE MOM!!”, my heart plummets to my feet. Most times I am able to evade the oncoming attack by turning around just in time and stopping the invasion cold in its tracks with one word, “Stop!” Other times I’m still in the turning around process when I get slammed in the backside.
But I do believe last night’s fainting heart episode trumped it all. We had just finished up with haircuts, including some of Wyatt’s precious curls, and Lowell had hopped out of the shower to shave. Halfway across his face, razor in hand, he heard one of the kids yell that the dog was barking. Now when our dog is barking, it usually means a) that another dog is passing by on the road b) he saw or smelled a deer or c) he saw or smelled SOMETHING ELSE. Lowell had already gotten his gun ready with the cute little flashlight on it and everything since a couple nights before Storm, our dog, had alerted us to a bobcat in the yard. Yes, I actually saw that one with my own eyes! So Lowell was ready for it to come back around again.
Grabbing his gun, he heads out to the porch where the dog was barking. Now here is where I left the story. I was calmly taking my shower since I thought Lowell could handle the bobcat himself, and besides, not much can pry me away from a hot shower. So a few minutes into it, Terrel comes to tell me that Dad is out there with the gun and in his underwear…sitting on the front porch!! I could tell this was rather traumatizing to the fellow, but I thought it rather funny that our wildlife around here seems to show up just when Lowell is in the process of sleeping, shaving or such-like and never appropriately attired to shoot the things. I told Terrel to go take a picture of Daddy, although I don’t think he got it accomplished since he couldn’t find the camera and didn’t want to miss the excitement on the front porch. Another minute passed and he was back again…this time with awful news. “There’s a COUGAR outside!!”
Now here is where you can imagine that I fainted dead away in the shower, but I may surprise you by saying I was perfectly calm and rational. I’ve always wondered what I’d do when the moment came that I knew a cougar was close. By close, this one was seen by Lowell and Derek crossing the road just past our garden area. There is a path going up the side of our property, bordering national forest, that many animals travel on. So we are kind of like the pit stop on the wildlife highway! Anyway, I did not screech, scream, faint, or even hyperventilate. Once you’ve lived here long enough and seen enough big sets of teeth, you begin to get used to it.
It’s not cat season, so we legally can’t shoot it. As a lady in church once told me when I asked her how she deals with little kids being outside and wildlife around, she calmly said that if it’s worth worrying about, it’s worth praying about. Guess God and I are going to be having some serious conversations this summer.
So there you have it. We’ve now seen a cougar, a bobcat, a wolf, and a bear. And that’s just the big teeth items. All from our little .82 acres in north Idaho! Ok, so just reading that makes me realize my heart may not be as strong as I thought it was. I need some chocolate.
Soooo, after this wonderful email, do we have any visitors coming this summer??? We’d love to have you….so would all the things lurking in our woods. Sorry…I just could not resist that!
We love you all!
The Idaho Grabers
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