Thursday's Thirteen

Though I really love the new mail route I'm working on, I had forgotten a lot of the hazards of delivering mail in a rural area. So for those who might be interested, here goes...

1. Snakes: Yes folks, we have a bunch of snakes in Oklahoma and many are poisonous. We've got to deal with copperheads, rattlesnakes, and water moccasins. With the recent flooding on my route, I've seen several moccasins slithering across the road this week. I also saw a big black snake up on a customer's porch. Needless to say, I did not get out and go to the door!

2. Wasps and bees: I've fought off several wasp attacks this week. They're nesting right now and they love nothing better than to set up housekeeping in mailboxes! (Picture Mz. Jackson using your copy of Woman's World or Family Circle to fend off a red wasp attack) I had a hornet fly in the truck with me this week and managed to get the window down to let him out. I had a red wasp fly in with me today and I couldn't get him out, so we battled and I won. In other words, he died. I felt bad, but it was me or him...

3. Other bugs that bite instead of sting: Some boxes get filled with black or red ants who really resent my opening their new home. I also have to watch for biting flies, horse flies, and mosquitos, all of whom would love nothing better than to feast on Mz. Jackson.

4. Deer: These sweet creatures love to come leaping out of nowhere and into the path of oncoming traffic. I do not want to hurt a deer, nor do I want to have an accident. So I'm always on the lookout.

5. Protective dogs: I almost jumped out of my skin today when a cocker spaniel (who badly needed a trim) came lunging at my arm today as I reached to put mail in a box. I still haven't calmed my heartbeat.

6. The occasional perverted client: I haven't had this happen on my new route yet, but in the past I've had dirty old men come out and make suggestive comments at the box. A fellow female carrier had one customer who would come stand buck naked in his glass doorway when she drove up to the box.

7. Farm machinery: When you're on a narrow country road and you cross paths with a huge hay bailer, you'd best find a place to pull over. That's all I can say.

8. Speed demon cowboys: Cowboys and farm boys are great to have around when you have a flat tire or need your truck pulled out of a ditch. But they like to take those country roads fast in their pickups, so look out! Yee hah!

9. Children: My heart is in my throat when children come running to the box to get their mail. I live in terror of accidentally running over a child, so I'm especially careful.

10. Jewelry on my right hand: You know that little latch on the top of your typical mailbox? Get your ring caught on it as you are pulling away and you could break your arm or rip it out of the socket. So I move my ring to my left hand til I'm done working.

11. Sunburn on my right arm: Mz. Jackson is part Cherokee and so tans easily, but even she needs to remember to wear sunscreen on that right arm. Not only is one tan arm a bit unattractive, but after a while that arm starts to burn, and if I'm not careful I'll end up looking like a dried up piece of leather.

12. Trains: I cross a major train track five times during the course of my route. It would be really easy to forget to look for trains. But I don't want to get smashed, so I do.

13. My own stupid driving mistakes: Needless to say, I am like most drivers in that my own mistakes cause me the most problems. So I try to stay off the cell phone (it's not illegal to talk and drive here~yet...) and to not look at the mail while I'm driving.

Be safe out there everybody!