Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Down on the Farm

I like to think of myself as a city girl. However, I have only spent a small portion of my life living in an actual city. I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Although the city is not a huge metropolis, Fort Wayne is big enough to have many of the attractive features of an urban area. There are sidewalks, street lights, libraries, theaters, public transportation, museums, and lovely parks. Most importantly homes have city water and city sewers.

When I was fourteen, our family moved to a subdivision. Although I think that our subdivision was within the city limits, for a teenager without means of transportation this seemed quite uncivilized to me. There were no sidewalks or street lights. There were no stores or other distractions within walking distance. Furthermore, there was not easy access to public transportation to go to a store, to the library, or to the movies, a sad state of affairs for a young teen.

Across from our home of 38 years
Later, in my life, my husband and I lived in an apartment that was across from a dairy farm. Cows lived right across the street. Furthermore, our first house, where we resided for 38 years, was across the street from a farm as well. When we moved into the house, we had a well and a septic tank, attributes foreign to this city girl. Three years ago, we moved to the other side of town. This home is also across from an active farm; plus, we get our water from a well and our sewage goes to a septic tank in our back yard.

Interesting barn across the street from our new home


This year's corn crop
Country life is okay, but I miss sidewalks, street lamps, and most of all city water and city sewage. (I could also do without herds of mice and the dead raccoons that litter the highway.)

3 comments:

Faye said...

I remember the first time I spent the night in the big city of Prestonsburg. Couldn't get to sleep for the street lights shining in window.

I think a lot of former city dwellers have a romantacized view of rural life--forgetting about the smells, noise, and traffic--not to mention field mice--that go with country living. You have some beautiful views to compensate though.

Hope you're ready for a good summer, Molly.

Margaret said...

I love both country and city, but prefer a city atmosphere, although the place I live has both farms and some city. It's a good mix of both.

daddyd said...

Being together is the important primary factor. The location of the house is secondary.