Dia Garland

Oh, the joys of country living!!!  We moved form San Diego, CA to far northeastern Nebraska four years ago, and I have no regrets at all.  We live five miles from town, I wish we lived further out.  We live on a gravel road that has a nasty curve that has snowbound us more than once.  There is no one around us, we can see a neighbor's house about 1 1/2 miles away.  Town is small, it has a market to buy essentials, but we go to the city for our shopping once a week.  The city is about 30 miles away.  Too close for me!  My husband commute 45 miles to work, and our gas bill is astronomical, but it is worth it.
 
We have a large garden that gives us most of our vegetables in the the summer, and about half of our vegetables in the winter.  I can most of the vegetables.  We have our own chickens, raise a few pigs for our own use every year, have goats we milk, a few sheep, and a steer and a heifer.  We also have a pair of geese and a pair of ducks.  My kids are learning about responsibility as we get up every morning to go out and do chores, and again every night.  Animals must be fed every day!  They are learning about finance as they sell their animals and help pay for others.  They are learning about hard work when they take their animals to fair and show them.  And they are learning about the rewards of all of this when they receive their fair premiums!
 
We live in a small town that is populated by people who are almost all related to each other in some way, so we are truly outsiders!  One would expect to be snubbed, but I have not found that to be true in our case.  Perhaps it is because we didn't come to the country and then complain because it is not like the city!  We pitched in and volunteered to help with cattle drives, haying, castrating pigs and sheep, and clean up after a tornado.  In doing so, we learned how to do a great many things, and we made some wonderful friends.
 
What I have seen is that the people who never "fit in" are those who really don't try. 
The country is not for everyone, but if your heart is here, then you will be *very* happy, and you will find that country people are about the best people there are.
 
Dia