I guess with all of us being individuals, that means we are all different and have different preferences. My Dad always liked living in the country. I’m glad he did, because growing up in rural Arkansas was the favorite part of my life.
And what was so good about that lifestyle, and what did I like about it? A number of things. First, while I do like people, I also like not having to be around others all the time. I’m a private person and like spending time alone. In the country, there are plenty opportunities to get alone even if it means climbing a tree, sitting on a branch and looking down on the world, or perhaps hiding from it. Now, I never climbed to the top of a tree, because I was a “scared cat,” but I would climb a couple of branches or just sit in the shade.
Another thing I like about country life is “free time” when we did just nothing – one of my favorite past-times.
I also like that we didn’t have to “dress up” or even be “decent” at home. We wore what we wanted and put on the most comfortable clothes to romp around in. We didn’t even have to be that clean, especially if we weren’t expecting company or if we weren’t going some place.
Actually, I made a list of things that, while they may be necessities today, they didn’t make a difference in our lives, because they were non-existent.
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No Doctor’s bills
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No water bill
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No gas bill
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No fan or air conditioning bill
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No humidifier of dehumidifier
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No light bill
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No telephone bill
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No laundry or dry-cleaning bill
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No loud music
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No costly car repairs
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No traffic jams on the freeway
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No bus fare for daily commutes
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No loud, rowdy or unruly neighbors
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No crime
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No locks or security alarm systems or burglar bars
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No costly grocery or food bill
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No smog or air pollution
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No hustle and bustle of traffic or standing in long lines at the grocery store
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…And best of all, no cockroaches
And, of course, the list could go on and on, but I want you to have an idea how simple things were way back when. Today, people would call us “poverty stricken,” but I didn’t hear those words until long after I left home. If we were poor, it didn’t faze us, because we were more happy than poor.
Would I want to go back to that “simple” way of living? Not necessarily, but now that I’ve lived in “both worlds,” it wouldn’t bother me as much as it would “city slickers” who haven’t the faintest idea about starting a fire in a wood heater or fireplace.
But life is now what it is, and for the past and the present, I’m simply grateful.
