The Meaning Behind my Title

I thought I would enlighten you as to the meaning behind the title I chose for my blog.  No, I did not grow up on a farm but I did grow up in a small town that might as well be considered the country.  My love for the country came from visiting my Uncle, Aunt, and cousins that lived on a farm and from camping with my Granny and Gramps.

When I was younger I loved to go to my Aunt and Uncles house.  They live down a really long lane with fields on each side.  The unfortunate part is that they did have 3 other neighbors so they weren't alone out where they lived but it was still peaceful.  They had sheep, goats, horses, cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens and the dreaded geese.  (I think it is because of these geese that I have an aversion to fowl of any kind unless it's cooked).  I enjoyed playing outside there.  Just running, and bike riding, and swinging from the tree swing.  They even had a pond way out yonder that we swam in a couple of times.  (Not that I would want to do that now, thanks to the movie Jaws, but it was cool back then).  I was so amazed that you could get eggs right out from under the chickens instead of buying them from the IGA.  I loved picking vegetables out of the garden.  I loved the sounds of the animals, the birds, the blowing of the corn stalks in the wind, but the best sounds came at night.  The bugs.  The tree frogs.  The owls.  Natures very own lullabies.

That is why I want to live in the country.  I want to hear the corn stalks blowing in the breeze, not the big eighteen wheelers that fly down my road shaking the whole house.  I want to open my windows and let in the fresh country air (side note:  no  pigs will be allowed so it won't be stinky).  I want to sit outside in a swing with a glass of sun tea and a good book with nothing but the sounds of the birds, crickets, ok and the sound of children playing in the background.  I want to stand at my kitchen sink, look out the window and see nothing but fields of gold. I want to watch the storm clouds roll in, not watch how close it's getting on the computer thanks to weather underground.  I want to make dinner with the vegetables grown in my garden, not bought from Schnucks or Shop N Save.  I want to go to sleep with nature's nighttime lullably playing in the background, not some nature CD I bought from Best Buy because I can't open my windows.  I want to walk down a long lane to get my mail in rain, sleet, snow, and hail. (OK maybe not hail because that usually means high winds and for that I will be in  my basement). 

Until that day, I will continue to decorate my home with country decor, read my country magazines and books, cook my country dinners with produce from Schnucks, and I will keep my hopes alive that someday my dream will finally be my reality.