Long boring stories about me: Country life
I grew up on a farm of sorts, 5 acres in a little town called Cheshire. (population 400) As you know (if you're paying attention, and if you're not, shame on you) Daddy trained horses, so we had a number of them when I was a baby, but he quit when I was about 2 (this was about the same time he was getting a divorce from wife #8 [she had been one of his students, the marriage lasted under a year, she was 22 when the divorce went through]) and only kept 2 horses. I never really learned how to ride, a fact that I'm still a little bitter about (who me? Bitter? Never!) I have 5 older sisters who are all champion riders, and I can't even get into a saddle without help, much less have any clue what I'm doing once I'm up there. C'est la vie.
It's a different world, living in the country, I miss it sometimes, mostly just the little things.
We had well water, it tastes so much better to me than city water, or even filtered water, it had almost a sweet aftertaste, and no chemical tastes. (I taste chemicals in bottled water, I don't know if it's all in my head, or due to being bottled in plastic, or if the water bottlers are just lying about where they're getting it from, but I taste it)
It actually got dark at night. No street lights to help you find your way, either you learn to get along with only the stars and the moon to guide you, or you grab a flashlight. I have really good night vision, I attribute that to the fact that I didn't want to carry a flashlight. (even as a child I was contrary) You can see a million times more stars at night without any lights to get in your way, when I look up in the sky now part of me always wonders what happened to all the stars.
Quiet means something different when you can't hear any cars. I've often heard people say that it gets quieter at night in the country, but I disagree, it's just different. The crickets are the most noticeable noise, for those who aren't used to them, but just as I now rarely notice the sound of cars going by, the crickets generally escaped my notice then. I did notice when the raccoons were crawling under the house, and when there were deer eating the grass (and flowers, deer are pretty, but obnoxious) right outside my bedroom window. I heard the occasional gunshot, often from miles away, because the sound carries so well without white noise to drown it out, there were catfights at least weekly, and more often during certain times of the year. Our house had a tin roof, so there was never any wondering if it was raining outside, and there is nothing quite like waking up to the sound of a dozen peacocks and 1 rooster welcoming the dawn. (if you think that sounds pleasant, you've never heard a peacock)
The view was breathtaking. I lived on a little hill, and from my front porch I could see miles of fields, trees, and hills, with only the occasional house, and only 1 road. There was just so much space, I couldn't even see the houses of my neighbors. I could walk for half a mile knowing I wouldn't see another person.
Strangely enough, the thing I miss the most is the drive, half an hour to get into town every day, that was a full hour each day that I had my daddies full attention.(technically I guess that's not true, as he did have to drive and all) We did all sorts of things on those drives, I learned how to add, and how to multiply, I learned the inner workings of a combine and the reasons behind field burning. (I may be the only person alive who actually LOVES that smell) We used to play this game, (it had a name but I've forgotten it) where Daddy would talk about a situation that was good, and I'd have to think of negative things that would come from it, and the other way around. (you win the lottery, you have to pay taxes, or you break your leg, giving hospital workers a job to do etc.)
Daddy had a couple of heart attacks and a stroke when I was 8, and for a couple of months I had to give him directions to my school every morning, and I wrote down directions for him to get to work and back to my school to pick me up. As I got older we'd spend those car trips discussing books I'd read, or arguing about politics, but regardless of the topic of our conversation it was always our time together.
It's a different world, living in the country, I miss it sometimes, mostly just the little things.
We had well water, it tastes so much better to me than city water, or even filtered water, it had almost a sweet aftertaste, and no chemical tastes. (I taste chemicals in bottled water, I don't know if it's all in my head, or due to being bottled in plastic, or if the water bottlers are just lying about where they're getting it from, but I taste it)
It actually got dark at night. No street lights to help you find your way, either you learn to get along with only the stars and the moon to guide you, or you grab a flashlight. I have really good night vision, I attribute that to the fact that I didn't want to carry a flashlight. (even as a child I was contrary) You can see a million times more stars at night without any lights to get in your way, when I look up in the sky now part of me always wonders what happened to all the stars.
Quiet means something different when you can't hear any cars. I've often heard people say that it gets quieter at night in the country, but I disagree, it's just different. The crickets are the most noticeable noise, for those who aren't used to them, but just as I now rarely notice the sound of cars going by, the crickets generally escaped my notice then. I did notice when the raccoons were crawling under the house, and when there were deer eating the grass (and flowers, deer are pretty, but obnoxious) right outside my bedroom window. I heard the occasional gunshot, often from miles away, because the sound carries so well without white noise to drown it out, there were catfights at least weekly, and more often during certain times of the year. Our house had a tin roof, so there was never any wondering if it was raining outside, and there is nothing quite like waking up to the sound of a dozen peacocks and 1 rooster welcoming the dawn. (if you think that sounds pleasant, you've never heard a peacock)
The view was breathtaking. I lived on a little hill, and from my front porch I could see miles of fields, trees, and hills, with only the occasional house, and only 1 road. There was just so much space, I couldn't even see the houses of my neighbors. I could walk for half a mile knowing I wouldn't see another person.
Strangely enough, the thing I miss the most is the drive, half an hour to get into town every day, that was a full hour each day that I had my daddies full attention.(technically I guess that's not true, as he did have to drive and all) We did all sorts of things on those drives, I learned how to add, and how to multiply, I learned the inner workings of a combine and the reasons behind field burning. (I may be the only person alive who actually LOVES that smell) We used to play this game, (it had a name but I've forgotten it) where Daddy would talk about a situation that was good, and I'd have to think of negative things that would come from it, and the other way around. (you win the lottery, you have to pay taxes, or you break your leg, giving hospital workers a job to do etc.)
Daddy had a couple of heart attacks and a stroke when I was 8, and for a couple of months I had to give him directions to my school every morning, and I wrote down directions for him to get to work and back to my school to pick me up. As I got older we'd spend those car trips discussing books I'd read, or arguing about politics, but regardless of the topic of our conversation it was always our time together.