Benefits of Living in the Country

Now that the hectic time is done a week of downtime really gave me a chance to refleft on the benefits of living in the country. First, I realized how lucky I am to have a job that lets me work from home so often.

We were able to enjoy some good quality family time taking family 4 wheeler rides, eating out on the back porch, going to a small town festival (Moweaqua Pow Wow), and taking some walks along the waterways in the fields, and plant some more blackberry bushes. Julie and the kids each have some projects entered in the county fair.

Last Fri we were sitting on the back porch after dinner watching the dog lay in the yard, cats playing on the porch, and the kids were sitting there too, and not fighting, just looking over the fields. While the crops may not be the best they have ever been, at that moment I just felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

This month marks the 4th year since we moved from the country-I can't believe how much our lives have changed in that time-and all for the better. It is so easy to get used to something and take it for granted but I am really going to try and take time to appreciate the blessings we have living in the country-and decided to make a list. It is much longer than this but a few things are:

• Being able to walk out the back door and pick some strawberries and blackberries


• Quiet walks


• Ability to jump on the 4 wheelers and ride for 20-30 minutes checking crops and never leave your own ground (well-family ground anyway)


• Let the dog out and go for his morning runs without worrying he is messing on neighbors lawn


• Quiet dinners on back porch


• Watching the crops grow


• Great neighbors!


• Being close to family, and where I was raised-gives a sense of stability-farming the ground that my grandfather farmed when he wasn't much older than me-hard to explain.


• Watching a storm roll in-see the rain a mile away and watch it come across the field
  
• Did I mention quiet?

I guess it is just in my nature to have lots of "wants"-always thinking about a bigger combine, newer tractor, more ground, etc. But I realized that I am so far from lacking a single "need" that I don't take enough time to sit back and appreciate all the blessings we have.