Gordon, Nebraska

[jscottyray]

Thanks Alot for info SC Granny. It ismuch appreciated.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

I have seen several snakes since moving here to Cody in the Sandhills last year. A bull snake in a ditch outside of town, a rattler (abt two feet long) that a delivery guy pulled up in his vehicle and showed off, that he'd killed not far away on the road, and two days ago a 6-foot king snake that was half-in, half-out, of my water trough getting a drink.

I've heard stories about rattlesnake dens on ranches that are close to the river, where the families go out every spring and try to slaughter them all. They never seem to be able to. There are a lot of 'snake stories' here. But my property is pretty high and dry, with no water access other than underground and here on the edge of town. We keep things clipped and clean around the house; the water trough sits under the fence from the corral into the pasture and draws all sorts of critters from the pasture; deer, raccoons, birds, turkeys, etc, so a snake is not surprising. Having lived in SC, where all but two of the poisonous snakes in North America live, there is a dearth of snakes here, in my opinion! I used to turn up stepping stones and find copperhead nests, water moccasins were in all of the waterways and would hang out in the trees and drop into your boat, and I had slain more than one rattler in my own yard there. My cats used to bring me baby rattlers and copperheads when they were finished playing wiith them. So here - hmm, not so scary. At least rattlers warn you.

As for health care, they are very fast and efficient as well as proficient, and very inexpensive by comparison to the South or Northeast. They also treat you like a patient, not an income or a bother, which is really nice. While the ambulance might take awhile to get to you, there are EMTs all over the Sandhills who will come in their cars to stabilize you until the ambulance comes.

I don't understand about the 'not fitting in' - to me that is totally subjective. Yesterday was our town festival, and I not only announced the parade but worked hard with volunteers that I was asked to recruit to put on the barbeque. I have helped out with the HS drama club and get involved in fascinating conversations with folks from all walks of life. The thing is that we didn't move here to be social or to make friends, assuming it would just be one big retirement community - we came here and respected that most people have their own jobs and lives, and like us want to be left alone to enjoy them. But when we need each other we can depend on each other, and that is wonderful.

So when you move, give a holler! Gordon isn't that far!