Yesterday I went out to McDonalds for breakfast. My favorite parking spots were already taken and the park where I usually go to eat was overrun by runners, so I set out to find a different suitable place to enjoy my repast.
Heading west, I worked my way through town and then south and west again through farm country. The weather has been pretty good to farmers around here this year and the corn is tall and sturdy and the bean fields are lush. I drove down several miles of road but couldn’t find a spot to pull over and eat that struck my fancy until I passed a farm house with a “For Sale” sign in its window.
I turned around and went back. The house appeared to be empty, so I pulled into the driveway to eat. I think that only one car drove by while I was sitting there. I had the car windows down and the breeze was blowing wonderfully. The only sounds were the crickets and the wind in the corn. It felt so peaceful that I could have stayed there all day.
I am not a city person, and barely a suburb dweller. I love open spaces and quiet. I don’t want another house next to mine for at least a mile or so. I would prefer to be able to walk outside to the clothesline in the buff if I wanted to with no concern over whether I would upset the neighbors (and believe me, the sight of me naked would upset them). I am also a flat earth person – open fields for as far as the eye can see! Some people like the mountains, and I have to agree they are great scenery, but they make me claustrophobic. There’s nothing like the wide, open spaces to make one feel really free.
I took down the information on the “For Sale” sign. I thought I might call to see what they want for the place. As I drove back, though, I realized that it would just be too far from my work to make sense, not to mention that I don’t have any real money for that anyways. Sigh.
The house I live in isn’t bad, but I’ve got kids all around me. Whenever it is nice enough to open my windows it’s also nice enough for the kids to be out screaming and having a good old time. I can’t hold that against them, after all, that’s what kids do. But it sure does get irritating after a while. Almost makes you long for winter to have some peace and quiet.
And, of course, no matter what you are doing, your neighbors see it. While I’m not doing anything that shouldn’t be seen, it just gets irritating not being able to even scratch your butt without being observed. Also, a little city lot doesn’t give one much elbow room and certainly no feeling of wide, open spaces.
Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing. I’ve managed to become debt free and could live just about anywhere as long as I could make enough money to meet my living expenses, which aren’t huge. Why don’t I move someplace that will give me what I want? Actually, there are reasons. I guess it is all a matter of the choices we make in our lives, and sometimes it is just that old habits are hard to break.