I grew up in rural America with a big back yard, lots of pets, and the ability to ride my bike everywhere. We played kick ball in the streets, and people didn't lock their cars or even their houses.
I now live in the suburbs. I have nearly 1400 square feet of house, no yard, and sometimes fall asleep to the sound of traffic whizzing by on the not so distant road. People not only lock their doors, but there are several locks and alarms... and this is a very safe area.
I can see the advantages of both areas; both lifestyles are appealing. I loved my childhood and appreciate it for all that it was. I love raising the Diva in a completely different environment and giving her all the things that I didn't have due to location.
But you know where I think I would like to live... okay, beyond the Antebellum house in Natchez with the wide veranda that overlooks the Mississippi.... I think I would like to try my hand at... farm life!
Yep, you read that correctly... Bridges of Madison County, here I come!
While traveling in Australia, I spent time with family on a ranch of sorts. I am sure that I romanticized the life just a tad, but there is something very appealing about the open spaces, working the land...being a bit disconnected from everything...
I love the idea of a garden - spending my days outside nurturing the vegetables and even flowers... I would have to have lots of flowers too. Oh, and to get up and go down with the sun - no alarm clocks... *sigh*
The sounds of traffic, car alarms, and honking motorist replaced by... silence... and maybe the wind and nature.
There is something about the notion of physical labor - using not just my mind, but my body day in and day out. To fall asleep spent. To wake and see progress and the visible signs of success; the fruits of my labor.
It is the simple life but it is not the simple life. It is a return to the earth - a desire to live by physical labor and effort.
Of course, living on the farm also means that I would have to learn to cook. But perhaps even that wouldn't be such a challenge were I to use the produce from my garden.
And there would simply have to be a man around because a farm is not a farm without the gorgeous hunk of man hanging around working the land and protecting the homestead. This man would have to have great hands... you know, strong and weathered... very capable hands....
Um... where was I?
I am not sure why there is that part of me that is drawn to the farm. I like the idea - the romantic notion or the purity that the farm seems to symbolize in my mind, but I am not sure that I could endure the hardships, either natural or man made. The farm life is probably not the life for me. I suppose I will just have to suffer through cultural events and trips to distant locales; with noise and traffic and alarms; and with schedules and rehearsals, and people everywhere following their own agendas...
But can I at least keep the dream of a more simple life... one with nature and fresh air and... silence? Oh, and the man with the hands... I will keep him too!
9 comments:
I, too, romanticize the rural/farm life. My dream is to own about 100 forested acres with my house right in the middle. No stupid laws/neighbors/HOAs f***ing with my life.
The first problem for me is that growing up in NYC gave me no opportunity to get over my fear of the dark. Why, oh why, do all the viscious beasts of the wild always want to eat ME?!?!?! ;-)
The solution for this is for me to grow a pair and get over it.
The second problem is my kids. I want them to have the best education possible. Call me a snob, but rural schools just don't compare. So I have 12 more years to wait for the last to graduate high school.
The third problem is $$$.
If I save (yeah right) my money carefully for those 12 years, I should have enough to retire out in the boonies.
Now if I can just convince the Boss to go with me...
I'd recommend "Anonymous" consider moving to State COllege, PA - find a place on the outskirts of town (a tad more affordable, but not by much) but still within the State College school district, which is among the best in the nation!
Miss Exception - if you'd like - I'll introduce you to my son -he's 34, single -has his own very rustic (translated -OLD house) works as a long-haul truck driver so he's not around day in, day out, to get in one's hair, so to speak. He's also very liberal -a feminist in a village populated mostly though by redneck male chauvinists. Yes, I did that to him -turned him into a feminist by singing "I Am Woman" to him as a lullaby when he was a baby -that plus he grew up sandwiched between his two sisters and really didn't have all that much choice in how to act, how to think. He only has two acres of ground with his house though and it is in the boondocks in a little old coal town. Drawbacks to every thing, huh? Check him out on my blog though -photos on the post titled "Tapwater."
The man with the hands...you better keep that one! :) The farm life is a bit romanticized, but I can see why. I used to romanticize it as well until I stayed on one (my mom's family and hometown friends have their own) and realized how much friggin work it takes to maintain one :P
I grew up in sleepy "don't lock your door" suburbs - they're still the same way today. My hope is that they still will be when I have kids of my own!
You might consider the drawbacks: I was born out there. Cheese is either cheddar or Velveta. Cold meat is bologna. Wine is 20/20. Beer is Bud or Miller. Clothes are jeans, shorts and, if you are lucky, thermals! Forget imported vegetables. There are no jobs if you need extra money. Oh, and that learning to cook thing; it takes time and effort. But you won't be able to find many of the herbs your cookbook requires.
And if you farm includes animals; hope you like shoveling sh*t. BTW, you'd better budget $2-500K for tractors and such if you think you are going to make a living from this farm. Subsistance farming doesn't require it but a money making farm sure does.
See you in your next daydream!
Aussie farm idyll, does that mean Aussie man idyll?
All - The dream is nice, the reality, of course, is something very different. Of course, all of this is probably inspired by my Ausie relatives currently visiting the US, their wonderful family "farm", and the hecitc nature of the holidays.
I end up longing for something more quiet, natural, and simple!
And an Ausie man would be... fabulous.
Perhaps instead of Bridges Of Madison County, I should be looking at The Thorn Birds!
Welcome home, sweetheart!
I cringe at the thought of having to move INTO the city. Especially somewhere MUCH farther North than I currently reside.
I think I'm slowly teaching Sarah the virtues of living in a quiet neighborhood (or not in one at all) outside the city limits. She's slowly coming around, I think!
Glad to be back, darling.
There are advantages to both, but... I like having green space and silence every once in a while. I like to be able to hear myself think - and the stories that the wind tells!
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