I’ve lived in cities and the countryside. I am miserable in an urban setting. I desperately need the green grass and views of hills, trees and plants, blue skies and clouds, dark night with stars, and fresh air. That’s why I loved the Heidi story as a kid-it was me!

As I'm aging it is harder to be a country mouse. But I'll keep trying.

because we are innately seeking that which we cannot buy, which is not manufactured, and which too many have never experienced in a way that make them wake up to the fact that we need to be part of nature.

You get it. I get it. But the propagandists for over consumption rely on $$ not personal connections with the earth and other beings. They are, truly sub-human.

I believe in our "oneness" with Nature. Although we humans often act like we are separate entities, we are just as much a part of the natural world as waves are to the ocean.

I was going to go shopping today, but IT'S A FIFTY FRICKIN MILE DRIVE to do so. (and fifty back)

Couldn't sleep for two nights with the wind howling all night. Fortunately, I reinforced the gutter ends with solid wood bolsters because they kept parting company with the fascia. Geez, at 76 years, climbing a 13 foot extension ladder, I really aim to live to be 77 or more. Lots more.

Neighbors fire rifles every day. At least in the city, it's illegal to do so, and I've collided with more deer than autos by far. Cost me a pickup truck and the right front of my SUV.

Stress is not intermittent. It's constant, wondering if the well pumps are going to fail today, or if those weird sounds are those predators we supposedly are adapted to deal with. I'M NOT. Rattlesnakes and mountain lions, fuggedaboutit.

When the power goes out, I hope (sadistically) that the downtown (all three blocks of it) is out, because that means that power will be restored in a few hours instead of a few days, because merchants go ballistic and hound the fire department. whereas us shitkickers really don't count. Only time we see the city and county "guardians" is when someone nearby has a pot farm to raid, because in this county, weed is illegal.

Seriously, I took photos of our county cops helicoptering in, dangling 30 feet on a wire to raid a pot farm. WHO DOES THAT?

I suggest "just enough" When I lived in suburbs, let's say all but 10 of my many years, I visited the shore, wineries, mountains, parks, arboretums, all nearby, and being a photographer, was totally absorbed by the beauty. When I was back east, I'd make an annual foliage tour with large format cameras for the duration. And then it was gone.

All without chainsaws and weed-whackers with 20 hours worth of batteries.

I have evolved.

It is still a world of people (despite AI trying to replace us with server farms) and in the backwoods,

THERE AIN'T NO PEOPLE.

And have a great day! Enjoy your short drive to Trader Joe's. And friends you can invite for coffee and tiramisu.



And friends.

I'm driving and offering rides to many people over the week. But when I can't drive anymore I don't have anywhere to go. Feet and legs don't work like they used to. Heart doesn't pump very well.

I'll be damned if I have to live in a concrete shell just because we're not supposed to take control of our final moments.

Which should be renamed the Paddy Chayefsky hospital for the quality of service there. I go only when covered with poison oak.

DID I MENTION THE SUPERABUNDANCE OF POISON OAK HERE?



Here's a baby vine. Only 10 or 12 feet tall.



Or infected by some deeply embedded splinter from a buckbrush plant (Mother Nature's original Iron Maiden torture device)

OTHERWISE, the V.A. Medical Center is 50+ Miles away and I have never signed in, because, if I am healthy enough to drive there and back including these grand prix winding, blind-curve country roads, I don't need no medical care. I am healthier than a race-car driver.

More later.

Saying we aren't evolved for cities is no different than saying some god didn't create us to live in cities. You've just said what you believe without mentioning god or creation.

That's not evolution.

Still, it's a convenient trope upon which to hang ones hat.

I want to experience. I did all the boy scout camping and merit badge stuff when I was a kid and I thought the great outdoors was highly overrated. I want central heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. And the every day amenities of modern urban life.

The North is way too cold for me in the Winter, the Midwest and South way too hot. At least at home, I can live in a temperature controlled environment that doesn't have me sweating or chilling. But it wasn't always that way. I lived for more than a decade in San Antonio without A/C, plus no A/C in my car. But I was young, and my body could handle it. These days? Ha! I can feel a 5 degree difference in temp, I swear! And tho I'm past menopause (I think) I will still go into night sweats.

But I long for the solitude of the country, with basically the sounds of Nature the only ones to hear. No sirens, no screeching brakes, and no one yelling. Just the sound of crickets and birds and the occasional howls of a lonesome cat or dog. I actually like "hugging" trees... which is why we bought our house, lots of trees in the yard. But now at 70, we're relearning that trees in the Autumn in the Midwest mean lots of falling leaves all the time. In the country, you let them fall where they may and they become fodder for the next round of good black soil. In the city, ya gotta pick up that crap before you get turned in at the HOA or city police.

We left the "big city" around 8 years ago and moved to a small city. We've got some nice green expanses close to the house, and a creek running through it all (if we can keep the developers out). The houses are older, have character, and you catch the occasional glimpse of wild animals like deer, foxes, and coyotes.. and wonderful creatures like owls in abundance. We're also less than 10 minutes from a stop at the Dollar Store, less than 15 minutes from the grocery store.. and the same for Walmart (which is the extent of the shopping experience here). In winter, in worst case scenarios you can get almost any place you need to by foot. And that's good, because driving is getting to be a bit scary for me these days.

So I think the compromise we made by moving here was a good one. No big rush hour, plenty of elbow room, easily accessible amenities (tho they're not 24-hour), but on the other hand, we're still victim to the near constant din of sirens (mostly EMS in this area), and our last hospital closed down earlier this year. My husband has had bad luck finding a PP in town, and so we both end up driving up to KC for medical appointments... which, to me, is a huge drawback at this age. But we'd have the same issue if we were a little further out in the country, too.

I just wish we had MORE wildlife around us. That's the Nature I adore and could live with 24 hours a day!