A Touch of Country Living

One of the many things I do during the day is drive. In reference to the previous post, yes I have broken a wee bitty law or two in my day. (Before you hit the comment button and give me a little poke in the ribs take a look in the mirror.) In the big picture, not as heinous as the worst possible scenario could be but none the less I need to be a little more careful for the safety of my brood and others. Ok, let’s get off the PSA train and move to another area of my driving, what I actually see on my travels.

I have been reluctant to actually give out the location of where I live, not because I don’t like or feel ashamed, but for safety reasons. As much fun as this blogging adventure is, I wanted to keep some anonymity however my husband blew the top of that jar in his blogging adventure. So now the cat is out of the bag, I thought I would share a visual of the things I see on a daily basis with the kids on our way to work/school.

My definition of country is living on a minimum of 35 acres with a head of cattle, herd of horses or some other livestock, riding the ATV around the fence line with spare barb wire and u-nails checking for holes. The nearest neighbor can be seen with binoculars and the cats are chasing rabbits or gophers for most of the day. Where we live is what I would call quasi-country, and that is because I live in a subdivision in the middle of a walnut orchard. It is just enough country for me and I like being there a lot. I have wonderful neighbors, a great home for my kids, quiet streets, occasional play by play football from my front porch, and an exceptional, talented young man who comes twice a month to help my husband with yard work. I get piece of mind that my kids will be going to a great elementary school, small stores, and friendly smiles. I get the chorus of toads in the evening, mallards roaming the empty lots, Red tailed hawks, owls, bats, cats, howling neighbor dogs, skunks (mostly the smell tells me they are around), and Yellow-billed magpies.

Magpies, let me just tell you about these little, brash birds. My observations lead me to believe they have a club, a club of young, punk birds looking for trouble. They like to dodge cars, hang out in the middle of the road, and cause general driving mayhem. I believe they know when I am driving and send the word out. Not a day has gone by when these brutes are hogging the man made pathways with their silliness. I am human look at me drive, now bird get out of my way! I have many small moments of panic because I think they will not move out from in front of the van. That in itself is another topic.

Back to the point, here are some moving pictures of the sights I see on my travels. There will be more to come as the year progresses, but for now enjoy.

This is great but if only I had the camera the other day.