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We Are That Different!

Over the weekend some friends had some friends visiting from a city . . a real city.  They wanted to bring the kids out to see the baby chicks.  The kids were probably 4 and 7.  The little girl’s name was Gracie so she was really impressed that one of the baby chicks was named Gracie.  Vince was in the house recuperating so he didn’t come outside but I was telling him about their visit and he said “We really are pretty different, I suppose.”

The mom and dad were taking pictures and videoing everything.

Baby Chicks

First, I picked up one of the baby chicks and while I was holding him and they were petting his head, he pooped in my hand.  Gracie squealed like a city girl.  I think the little boy wanted to squeal but was too grossed out.

We went over to the other coop so Gracie could meet Gracie.  The parents were intrigued by the two story coop so I explained that the bantams like to sleep way up high.  They had all kinds of questions about the roosters.  I felt pretty knowledgeable . . mainly because whatever I didn’t know, I could just make up as I went and they wouldn’t know the difference!  Not really!  They had never seen spurs on a rooster so I showed them Wilbur’s spurs.  They wanted to know why there was electricity running to the chicken coop.  I explained about fans and heat when there are babies in the winter.

The lady turned towards the shop and said “Whats’ that?”  Hmmm . . RTV?  Old Honda?  Old Chevy S-10?  “No .. that building?”  The shop!  I don’t know if she’s never really noticed a big metal building or not so I explained about it being full of mostly junk right now.

They were fascinated by the garden, the fruit trees, the solar powered well.  Our water comes out of the ground and we don’t pay a monthly water bill!  It was kinda funny . . all the things that we’re just used to seeing and using and it was all new to them.  The things we’ve wanted for so long  .. they never think much about and were surprised some of the things we use even exist.

We had some other folks over and I gave them some tomatoes, eggs and potatoes.  I had just dug the potatoes and I could tell he was baffled.  He said “How did they get so dirty?”  I explained that they grow underground.  No!  He didn’t believe if. I had to go out to the garden, scratch around and find more to show him.  He wasn’t real sure that the potatoes from the grocery store grow underground.  Poor guy!  He left saying “I’ve never seen a potato that still had dirt on it!”

They asked why the satellite dishes were down on the ground.  I explained that we don’t have satellite any more.  NO!  That had to be impossible.  What do we do at night?  I explained that by the time we come in from working outside, there’s not much time before we’re both falling asleep.  I’m sure he left thinking we’re the weirdest folks he’s ever met.  What about news?  I asked him what having the news had done to benefit or improve his life?  We can read local and national news online . . not that we do that much any more.

The wife wanted to know about the clothesline.  She honestly had never seen one.  I explained that sheets take about 10 minutes to dry on the line, towels may take 20 minutes.  I showed her a T-shirt off the line and how the wind blows so hard here that the clothes dried on the line have less wrinkles than those coming out of the dryer.

Yep, I guess by today’s standards, we are THAT different.

 

 

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Comments

  1. It’s amazing what is natural and norman to us can be so jaw dropping to others. We live much like you and Vince – rabbits, chickens, garden, no cable, etc. We had my son’s in-laws visit who live in a bit city where houses are 20 feet apart from each other. The look on their faces was priceless when we stoved a hot dog on the end of a stick from the yard and put it over our camp fire to cook. We took them on a poontoon boat ride and they were amazed the boat had carpeting on the floor. We found what’s normal to us certainly isn’t to others.

  3. I love when people are excited and curious about our life style. Most common response is you can buy the food in the store, why go to all the work. I have friends that don’t want me to talk about my turkeys because they want to think turkeys come from the store not the farm.

  4. The potato bit cracked me up. Reminded me of the L.A. County Fair commercials with the “valley girl” blonde, her sister and mom. The videos can be found in a Google search. And as one who was raised in the country (farm & ranch) and now lives in a city, yep, there IS that much difference.

  5. Different is good! A few months ago our oldest came home from living in the city. I handed him lettuce and spinach from the garden and told him to wash it. The look on his face was priceless! He didn’t know what spinach looked like when it wasn’t on the froazen veggie aisle. He’s now growing his own tomatoes because he likes how they taste and helping me keep the squash bugs down to a reasonable level. He’s even finally getting used to handling the chicks. I bet once the guy with the potatoes washes them and tries one, he won’t look at a store-bought tater the same way….

    • Hehe, is right! at the risk of getting ‘political’, when you look at election maps, the cities and highly populated areas tend to vote liberal, whereas the rural, salt of the earth, country folk vote conservative – just an observation folks 😉

  7. OH my! I wouldn’t have believed it, if my DH who’s seen me grow and harvest some veggies from my little garden for several yrs now, hadn’t asked “the tomatoes come fromt he flowers?” when I told them there wee a lot of buds on our plants!

  8. it never ceases to amaze me that people don’t know how plants or animals they eat actually come into being. i don’t think you are living a lifestyle so very different. at least not in my opinion. too many people have forgotten their roots. although i guess some people have always lived in the city, so maybe that is an excuse.

  9. Goodness, times have changed, but city people haven’t? This reminds me of when I was a child and people from Chicago would visit us on the farm. Definitely two very different worlds. (Remembering that as a child I was enamored of city life is kind of shocking at this point in my life.)

    • Are there still schools that have home ec??? I took it when I was in school, but they don’t offer it here anymore. The times they do change. Blessed be, hugs!!!

  11. I think your city folks are a bit clueless. I grew up in a city, live an hour west of NYC, in suburban NJ on the commuter line. “Suburban” meaning houses pretty close to each other in small towns of about 24,000 people, and one town flows into the next one, each with its own flavor. Probably urban suburban.

    We have weekly farmers’ markets in most of the towns, with fresh produce right from the farms, fresh fish caught early in the ocean, honey from bee keepers, fresh meet and poultry, etc. I can’t grow it or raise it in my backyard, but I can buy it right from the source. So that’s pretty good. People here love these markets; they are always packed.

    I know about potatoes, chickens, clotheslines, etc, etc. Don’t know much about eggs because I can’t keep chickens where we are, but I learn all about them from Judy.

    We have plenty of wild life here. Foxes, deer in vast amounts, rabbits, chipmunks, hawks, groundhogs. Cattle and such are more in southern NJ, but our farms are teeny compared to those in the midwest. Still, we can find pretty much whatever we want.

    I love going into the city just to see people from all over the world. I love hearing accents that I can’t recognize, love the outfits that the kids wear. I tend to go around the Fashion Institute of Technology, where the students wear the most fascinating clothing. I love the museums, the theater, the opera. And then, when I’ve had enough of it, I come home to my very quiet town.

    On the other hand, I’ve had county folk visit us and go into the city (AKA Manhattan) with us and really had a very hard time coping with the traffic, the amount of people, the noise and such. It’s just a different lifestyle. Not better, but not worse either. Just different.

  12. I’m sure glad to be different in that way. I don’t have a solar well but I have the big garden, chickens and the clothesline, which is in use right now. Maybe the next time your visitors go to the grocery store they might think a little bit about what actually goes into their cart.

  13. This post makes me feel so worldly. I grew up on a farm in Iowa between 2 towns — one had a population of 340 and the other 800. We lived in Dallas for 12 years and now have lived in Denver for 12 years… so I know it all! *L* We own farms in Iowa, so we haven’t totally lost touch with that part of our heritage.

    • That’s what I get when I talk of canning or making preserves or some of the veggies and fruits I grow here. I live in a city now – but most of my yard is taken up by garden, including herbs, a TINY TINY orchard – still enough for me and for my ds and dil. Have had a lot of fun giving away starts in herbs, blackberries and raspberries though. Sure wish I could raise chickens here and have dairy goats again!
      But mostly I really stun folks when I talk about NO TV! (I do have 2 TVs – but use them ONLY for video – and don’t use that 95% of the time! I’d rather read, work on quilts, or surf the net!

  16. I live and grew up in the city, but even I know what clotheslines are and having clothes dried outside. Even potatoes in the ground. Wow! lol

  17. I’ve lived on the farm and in town, and believe me the farm life is the best. There’s nothing in the grocery that compares in taste to what I grew on the farm, and I think it’s funny that people have no idea where the meat actually comes from. Some of them don’t even know what the animals look like, and a lot would be vegetarians if they had any idea they were eating a formerly live cow or pig.

  18. City folk! I can’t believe the guy had never seen a dirty potato. Obviously he doesn’t get out much! I really shouldn’t say anything as I have lived in the city my whole life but I have seen clotheslines and dirty potatoes. We can’t have chickens in the city but I think in one of the neighbouring town, there’s been a by-law battle about raising chicken in the town limits. I don’t know the outcome of it but I hope the chickens won.

  20. I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I live in town now but grew up on a farm. We had chickens (never as pets) pigs, cows, and a lot of crops. We had a huge garden and my mother canned a lot. We moved to the suburbs and we still had chickens, garden, clothesline on 4 acres. I even had a garden there after getting married and settling in town. Now they are gone and I do miss it. I get good feelings reading your post. Hope to see more of the roadrunner.

  21. Oh, my gosh! That is so unbelievable. I believe in old circus terms, you were hanging out with rubes! Great to have the chance to educate people a little.

  22. Love, love, love this post……..there is little that can compare to home grown potatoes….tomatoes…anything out of the garden…fresh eggs…mmmmmm! Can you describe the wonderful smell of sun dried laundry? Your blog is a joy to read! thank you for sharing your life.

  23. Holy smokes, Judy! Those really were CITY folks with a capital C. Didn’t know potatoes grew in the ground? Wowzers. I’ll bet they found your way of life fascinating. I’m just jealous that you’re out of town and living as close to off the grid as you can. I think it’s wonderful.

  24. Was the city these people came from Oz? I don’t doubt a thing you say, but was this guy kidding? Did he think potatoes grew on trees?

  25. Love this post! I grew up on a farm , moved to the city and now live at the very edge of a tiny town. My neighbor to the north has a clothesline I can use and the neighbor to the south has a garden that keeps me supplied with lots of veggies as they always plant way to much. My cousin lives 5 miles away and supplies me with eggs and beef when they slaughter. I no longer have to listen to the sounds of the city and can sleep with my windows open without fear. I can look out my back door and see nothing but fields and tree lines. I love living in the country in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone and watches out for each other.

  26. Its a great feeling to be that “different”; especially if one truly enjoys it !

  27. Judy, enjoyed this post so much. I’m with some others in wondering if these people were from OZ. Can’t bvelieve they didn’t know where potatos grew. They certainly have lead a sheltered life. Living like you and Vince do is a dream come true and so rewarding. With your kind of life, you don’t need or miss TV. I applaud you and love hearing about your adventures. Thank you.

  28. “City Folk” have been around for awhile. My youngest sister will be 47 in September. Her childhood girlfriend didn’t know that apples grow on trees because they always came in a bag from the grocery store.

  29. I can understand about limited knowledge of farm life and planting/harvesting your own vegetables, but not knowing about a clothesline? what did they think it was? Even people living in the city use to have clotheslines at the apartment houses.

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