Ten Things I've Learned Living in the Country

This month we celebrated our nine-year anniversary of moving to Oak Hill. This is the longest I've ever lived in one place, even as a child. I married a career military man, so we moved around a LOT, and we finally settled here in Oklahoma - at least for now.

In the past nine years I've learned a lot from living in one place, way out in the middle of rural nowhere, such as:

1. Kitchen cupboards and drawers need maintenance and deep cleaning. I've never stayed somewhere long enough to have to do this, we always just cleaned them when we moved. Likewise, you have to vacuum under the couch occasionally.

2. We have the best neighbors in the world.

3. The weather changes from year to year. I love the fact that we've been here long enough that I know what to expect and what will bloom next, and yet I've learned that the weather is different every year and we often get surprises.

4. The landscape changes from year to year. Trees grow, trees die, trees are blown over by storms. Wind and birds bring in seeds for new plants. Goats eat plants and can wipe out a patch of herbs.

5. Horses are hard on fences: the grass is always greener on the other side.

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6. The heavens declare the Glory of God, and there's no better place to view the night sky than in the country where there is little ambient light. The myriad of stars in the heavens is humbling.

7. Dirt roads produce a lot of dust; dogs shed lots of hair. Daily sweeping and dusting are a necessity here.

8. Dirt roads are hard on little cars. Now I drive a pickup.

9. It's hard to find a white pickup in a parking lot, because everyone drives a white pickup. Unless you sell your white pickup and buy a black one; then everyone else is driving a black pickup too.

"All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl."~ Author Unknown

10. How to love with all my heart. It's a sad fact that animals die, and in the nine years we've lived here we've lost a lot of them. Some to old age, such as the dogs we brought with us and our old horse Easter, others to illness or injury or other causes. Still, I'd rather love an animal than miss out on laughter and companionship because I'm afraid I'll lose them someday. This applies to people too: love them with all your heart, even though they might break it, because you never know what tomorrow will hold.

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