Why I love living in the country

I love living in the country...


*We own 5 acres, so our girls will often take their stick-horses out and ride on the horse trails in the pasture. It's great time spent outside, running around getting exercise! Even when they aren't riding their horses--real or stick--they have room to run and play without too many worries of strangers or traffic.

*I love that my animals are at my house. I can see and hear the horses all day long. If I want to go for a ride, I get Andy to watch the girls and I just go. I don't have to drive anywhere. Our dog has lots of room to run and play. She can often be found monitoring the yard, doing rounds like a guard on duty. The cats have their favorite places for hunting and napping. Sure, I don't like the "treats" that they leave for me, ever so proud, on the front porch. But that's part of life.

*Local families and gardeners will pick their gardens and put any excess produce on a trailer at the end of their driveway. The trailer will be un-manned and have a coffee-can for "Free-will donations." People can take and give what they want.


*Above-mentioned trailer of produce is hardly ever stolen from--produce or money-wise.


*We can be playing in our yard and have deer, bunnies, and other wildlife walk right across the driveway. The other night our neighbor also had a bear walk through his yard, across the road and into our pasture, but we weren't home to see it.


*When we go for walks, bike or horse rides, people always wave and slow down as a courtesy. If we walk or ride by and people are outside in their yards, they'll yell hello or stop to talk to us. Even if we don't know them.


*At night, the sky is so dark and full of stars. And there's a "quiet" that's unique to the country. There are no car noises or factories or sirens. There are coyotes and crickets and frogs and owls. Those natural noises lull you to sleep or help you relax better than an ambiance cd anytime.


*When I look out my windows or stand anywhere in my yard, I cannot see the neighbors. Yes, we call them neighbors because they are the next closest houses, but they are 1/4 mile away at the closest. All I see when I look around are trees and wilderness.


*There are plenty of learning experiences on our own land. The girls learn about life cycles of animals and plants, they collect rocks and leaves and pinecones, they have exposure to plenty of nature's things without going more than a few feet out the backdoor.