1. I love the small county seat.
2. I love the people in the small county seat, too. I have relatives who live there and I have many friends and acquaintances. Most of the county employees know me by name and will stop me for a chat in the street or in the hallways of the courthouse.
3. I love the landscape.
4. The thing about the Blue Ridge Mountains is that they are majestic. They aren't craggy (or crabby), either. They don't blow up with volcanic activity, they don't often have rock slides and the the theory is they help keep down tornadic activity. They are even high enough for skiing.
5. The change of the seasons is on display out the window. Spring flowers, summer green, autumn fire, winter snow blanket. What more could you want from your mountains?
6. I love that we live on a farm.
7. Living on a farm gives you a great appreciation for nature. You live the seasons - haying in late spring, summer, early autumn. Planting at the right time. Watching the animal and plant signs for the weather because that's about as accurate as the weatherman. Learning the value of a dollar because they're hard to come by.
8. I love the deer. They remind me to be curious and cautious.
9. The deer also remind me of the value of life, particularly during hunting season. While I really hate that the animals are killed I know there is justification for it. We eat the meat if my husband takes a deer. Everyone we know does. I know there are a few bad hunters but I don't believe they are the majority.
10. I love the turkeys. They remind me to always keep moving. Or else I might end up as Thanksgiving dinner!
11. I love that I have strong roots here that go back to before 1804 and that I can trace one line of my family tree back to the American Revolution.
12. I love that I have found work here that I enjoy and do well. How many people can really say that, I wonder?
13. I love that while this is a relatively rural area, it's suburban enough to give me access to great things like the Internet. Isn't technology great?
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.
You've got a great 13 here! Even the deer...who are in my doghouse today. Some buck came and got the deer guard off our little Japanese Maple and scraped off about 2 feet of bark. We taped it up and put the cage back on and are hoping it will survive. We lost a young maple this way a few years back. Why do they like the young trees?
ReplyDeleteSo much nature to love!
ReplyDeleteI love the wide open green space and the privacy I have where I live. Same views as you and I ditto that.
ReplyDeleteThe place you live sounds perfect! Can I have one just like it?
ReplyDeleteFun Thursday Thirteen!
The country is great!
ReplyDeleteyes, as sweet says, send me one too.
I love where I live too. No ancestors, but I love that I was the first urban pioneer of the family who discovered the Blue Ridge mountains.
ReplyDeleteJune - I think the deer like the younger trees because it is gentler on their antlers, which bleed as the velvet comes off. That is my personal theory.
ReplyDeleteSF and Kat -
ReplyDeleteThankfully, even in the city folks have their imagination. I wish everyone could live in a rural area ... but then of course that makes it that much less rural.
I love living here, too. No roots, though. Mine are scattered. I always wished to be in a spot where we had family go all the way back. My folks were traveller/wanderer/explorers. Daddy's grandpa ran away from the plantation in the south as a teenager and became a Texas Ranger then a rough riding cowboy. Mom's grandpa made his way from Canada to Northwest Arkansas and was a carpenter. His folks were Scotch Irish.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing how our children have grown to feel the feeling of HOME that we felt the first time we thought about moving here. And that we can get internet! And work the work we love. Thanks for great Thurs. 13s. Your thoughts make me happily imagine your world and appreciate my own.
A wonderful Thursday 13--you are indeed fortunate to live in such a place. It's a good thing to count our blessings...:-)
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this, so beautiful. I love living here too :)
ReplyDeleteI can trace some of my husbands ancestors back to the revolution. Was thinking of having my daughter join Children of the Revolution, but haven't gotten around to the paperwork. By the time I do, she can join the DAR,lol.