Like clockwork, every September & October...you can find my dear Charlie & I on the winding back roads & pathways of Missouri, Arkansas & other states. Our annual "picking" & auction junkets are as natural to our way of living as anyone else going to work.
Because regardless of how many folks out there tell us on a daily basis..."Oh! I'd love to have your job!" Give em a chance to come with me for a day & most would be high-tailing it out of a spooky, dark barn full of black snakes & almost always a bat or two! Picking is not for the faint hearted or those who wish to stay clean.
My "work" uniform consists of overalls, turtleneck sweaters with the elbows blown out, worn out pairs of leather gloves & scarves for head cover from the rat & bat droppings.
I've met personally & up close...very close...several black snakes. One whose name happened to be Harold, or so the 80 something gent told me while thoughtfully chewing on a piece of straw. (I STILL think he could have at least told me beforehand that HAROLD was living upstairs in the barn loft.
There has been close encounters with mice, rats, a possum, a racoon & on one memorable occasion, a slightly mad pig. Dogs will nose you from behind as you crawl around the stuffed barns...making for quite a catchy song & dance routine for many a totally delighted property owner! I try not to visibly shudder whenever we show up at an old farmstead with owner in tow & realize that in the darkened hollow down below their newly built house... is the old house in which we are expected to search.
Flashlights are always a Godsend until they fail, & they do...often. No matter how many spare batteries that I carry...they seem to work for less than an hour. I just love being upstairs in an old house during an dark, gloomy storm only to have my flashlight go out. I've edged my way downstairs many a time using lightening from a storm that filters in from the windows or wide chinks in the walls as a guide to watch my step. Because we were silly enough to remove the stair railings BEFORE scouting upstairs, I have to trust the shaky wall behind my back as I creep down the stairs. I keep reminding myself that I love the hunt...I love the thrill of the hunt...OMG! Was THAT THE BIGGEST SPIDER YOU'VE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE!
