Saturday, August 20, 2011

Living in the country or how to stay sane at times.....

Here it is---- finally summer is upon us.  We live in a unique farming area.  We are surrounded by farms on all sides with a major state highway running in front of our house.  It finally got hot enough that we need all the windows open all the time.  The catch?  The noise of summer. 

The farmer behind us runs a huge irrigation machine which is operated by a tractor that is very loud.  The crops need the water and being a farm girl, I certainly understand.  But it gets loud.... I love the sound of the sprinklers when operated with a pump rather than the tractor tho:)  It is so soothing.

They harvested the beans the other days.... yes, days.... two huge bean pickers ran for nearly two days.  And nights of course.  Loud.... now there is the smell of decaying green bean bushes... interesting aroma let me tell you.

Then there is the wheat harvest.  Dusty but not long lived.  Our house is covered in dirt and dust in the summer.  One simply can not keep up.  Even when I was "well" I didn't try to dust too often in the summer.  It was pointless.

The crops across the roadway are berries, and mostly dirt this summer.  They have taken out all the arborvitae that were there and not replanted yet.  The berries keep folks busy and we can hear them laughing as they work.

Of course this is all amid the noise of living on a state highway which is also a main truck route.  The traffic so seldom stops... and often when it does, its with a terrible bang and we are calling 911 and going out to help if we can.  There have been at least 5 fatal accidents out front in the 25 years we have lived here.  Oh, I forgot to mention there is a curved bridge (which they are going to replace soon) and an intersecting county road in front of our house too.  When they forget to stop, they take out our trees:(

I love living in the country.  Really I do.  Well, I used to anyway... in the day when the traffic slowed to a couple of cars an hour during the night and we had very few trucks going by at all.  Now I am not so sure.  Once in a while when all is still, I remember why I love it here so much.  I can see the stars, hear the creek in the winter, listen to the wildlife, and see nature all around me.  It's a wonderful place to be... once in a while.........

Oh and now we have not one but two event venues near us also.  So we have live music and lots of additional traffic whenever there is an event.  Tonight we have polka music on one side and something I can't quite discern on the other:)  They don't really bother me too much tho.  I understand why they are doing it.  And free concerts are fun:)  The one neighbor especially we are good friends with and never mind the music.  They other just started this summer and is literally across the creek from the first venue.  No competition there:(  I think tonight they will hear each other loud and clear...

We have coyotes nearby also that howl at night and then all the dogs in the neighborhood bark and carry on. 

You would never know we live on 80+ acres!!!!!

And my point is????? 

It's so hard to relax with all this going on all the time.  I get so tired and its hard to rest when the noise level is so high.  We have window air conditioners but have not needed them this summer until now and actually I hate the noise and the cold air they produce.  I get chilled so easily these days.  My poor husband is sweltering in the house and I'm often wrapped up in a blanket??  I sure don't understand that at all.

So, I watch TV, at a very loud volume, play my computer games and read once in a while.  Mostly I work at shutting out the noise and trying to ignore the traffic.  We may have to move soon and in some ways, I am so ready, but in others, I don't want to leave here.  We will have to move into town as there is nothing out here we can afford.  And I've not lived in town for more than a year at a time and hated it too... guess I'm impossible to please.  This is the farm I grew up on.  There are lots of memories here for me.  My parents had a dairy farm.

And I pray.  For patience, for understanding, for quiet, for ear plugs.... and I give thanks that I have a warm and dry home to live in, that I can hear all that is going on around me, that I am alive and that I have hope.  And I am thankful for all of you.  You lift me up when life tries to hold me down.  I am encouraged, enlightened, filled with laughter, and sometimes cry with you all.

Blessings to you and enjoy the world you live in!

Elaine

1 comment:

  1. Oh, my goodness, I always think of the country as being so quiet!! Our home in a city of 30,000 is alot quieter than you describe. We are on the edge of town and on a cul de sac though....Your description made me smile and made me thankful for our quiet neighborhood :)
    Change is hard I am sure. I know that audio stimulation can often make CFS worse...we need quiet to restore our bodies....I know you mentioned once that the state was making a road through your place? Is that still happening?
    I love your last paragraph...and give a resounding Amen to it!!

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