Some mornings I have to pinch myself to be sure I’m not dreaming. I know I moan and complain about the heat and the bugs/snakes and the lack of rain, and soon I’ll be complaining about the cold and ice. I’m always complaining about missing Chad, Nicole and Addie and being too far from them. But, when I stop and think about everything we have here, and the work we’ve done, this place is a little slice of heaven for me right now.
I’ve mentioned it before but Vince had pretty much always lived in a subdivision with houses nearby and that just wasn’t how I was raised and I need space! My grandparents had 80 acres. My parents, when I was 5, moved to southwest Louisiana and bought a lot down a little gravel lane outside the city limits and built a house. There were no houses on either side of us and there was undeveloped land behind us. My dad eventually bought the lots on both sides of us and while there was a house across the lane and houses down the side road, we had what seemed like wide open spaces with a pond at the end of the lane and as kids, we caught fish, frogs, turtles, and crawfish around that pond.
I had always told Vince I wanted 40 acres. I don’t even know how I came up with the 40 acre figure and I wouldn’t have turned my nose up at 30 but I just knew I needed space .. and chickens and a garden!
Sunrise
As I’m out making my rounds in the mornings .. letting chickens out, feeding Cat, checking out the fruit trees (which at the present time includes picking figs), inspecting the garden and overall . . just enjoying the peace and quiet, I’m reminded each morning how blessed we are to have what we have here.
Another thing that strikes me as kinda funny is the huge difference 10 degrees can make. We were out over the weekend and we were both almost giggling and dancing because it was 90 degrees out and it felt so good! The neighbors were over and saying how great it felt. I guess compared to 100 with the heat index near 110, a 90 degree day with a gentle breeze is fantastic! This is the point in the year where I say to myself . . maybe Texas isn’t so bad!
dorothymatheson says
I am right there with you. First 12 years in the country on 2 acres but no close neighbors as my Aunt and Uncle owned the 80 acres next to us and the fields across the street and to the other side were farms.
Lived in a big city till I was 31 and my husband and I bought 37 acres with no close neighbors . I finally got my horse. Still living here 34 years later.
Has become very hard to do the yard work and gardening now. I have had one knee replacement and need the other one done.
Still love the country. But the small city is getting closer fast.
Yes I have been out because it was just 90 and soooo nice.
JudyL says
Yes, I know what you’re saying. We tell ourselves that even when we can no longer do the work we do around here, we can still sit on the porch and drink wine, enjoying the peace and quiet.