Country Living

Geneo and I moved to the country in 1972. After having spent most of my formative years in the big city, there was some culture shock to me. I got used to it, and we raised our three daughters just outside a small town of about 1,000 people.

I always told the girls to live other places and experience other things instead of spending their whole lives in one place. If they wanted to come back, that would be great, but "see the world". They took me up on it. They left home, went to college, married and moved away. One has moved back within 100 miles. The other two are long drives away.

I have now lived here all these years and really like the place we call home. We have worked hard to have what is here, and it was a good place to raise a family. But there are some things I have never gotten used to and are getting harder to take the older I get.

For instance, we can't even get the daily newspaper from a large city delivered to our house. We live too far out in the country. It is delivered to the library in town, and we have to go in to town every day to get it. And if we don't get there shortly after it is delivered, someone else in town gets it. So, we may or may not get the newspaper. Yes, we could read it on-line, but it's just not the same.

Speaking of on-line, we can't get DSL, because we are too far out in the country. We have a satellite dish for our internet connection. That, of course, doesn't work when it's raining hard, but neither does the TV which also uses a dish.

Sometimes we can get cell phone reception, but not always. If we stand outside by the flag pole, it's better. Which leads to the telephone usage in general. Our land line has so much noise on it when it rains we can't hear. We have been told by the phone company it is because we have a line hooked up to Geneo's shop. Funny, it only does this when it rains.

We have one grocery store in town which is part of a larger chain. The ads are mailed to us for all the stores. When we go to our store to purchase what is in the ad, they may or may not have it. It depends on  whether the store manager thinks that particular item will sell in our area. (That has caused Geneo a great deal of frustration, and he has contacted the chain's home office which has promised to do better.)

Shopping, in general, is a pain. Even the nearest Walmart is 13 miles away, and it is a small one. Any major shopping is close to an hour drive. And now that gas is so high, you certainly have to carefully choose how many of those trips you want to make, and if you forget something, well you just do without until you can plan another trip.

Don't get me wrong, there are some good things to living in the country. It's normally quiet. (Of course, there are the times the coyotes starting running through the woods at night and get the dogs barking.) It's not unusual to see deer in our pasture. We can fish in our own pond, and our son-in-law and grandsons like that they can hunt around here. We have good friends in our church, and my sisters are close.

All in all, it's not bad, and I realize there are draw-backs to every location. And as much as I miss all the amenities of a large city and the opportunities to be with my family, I always have Jesus with me. He is the hope of my future and the song in my heart. Seriously, what more do I need.