When Holly Spangler posted she would be doing a 30 Day Blogging Series on agriculture it inspired me to get back in the saddle and get my blog up and going again. It was also about that time that I thought to myself, what the heck are you going to talk about? And then it hit me…Ladies and Gents welcome to 30 Days of Farm Kids Trapped in the City.
Today’s topic: The Oddball of the Neighborhood.
When the boy and I first set out to look at houses we were hoping to find a nice little place with some acreage for our beloved red, white, roan (oh and black) cows. Those dreams were soon shattered into a million pieces and buried deep down into the ground when our bank accounts made house buying a reality. We soon realized what we had to do (besides go in over our heads in debt)…We were going to have to live IN THE CITY.
To most this may not be a big deal, but when you grow up in a small farming community where your closest neighbor is at least half a mile away this is quite culture shock. But we finally settled for a place where we found a small piece of home right outside our FENCED in yard…a cornfield. Yes, the cornfield was the ticket. This little slice of land helped us make our decision as it brought us a image of “home” that we needed.
So shortly after “we struck black gold” packed up our stuff and moved in. Okay, well we didn’t actually get any gold, but it is about this time that the Beverly Hillbillies
What our neighbors see us as
theme song starts playing in my head. I believe the neighbors had a similar tune in their head when we pulled up with our trucks and trailers to unload our prized possessions and they began to breathe in a strange odor from our tires and shows wafting in the air. They may have even put out an All Town Alert to Hide Yo’ Kids…you know the story.
Either way we moved in to what we have since been informed as the “high society” of the area and began coping with the idea of neighbors. Yes, that is plural. I am not talking about just one neighbor, I am talking about neighbors on all sides but one! I have had a really hard time with dressing “classy” and not just walking out to the mailbox or walking the dog in my boots and shorts, mixed matched outfits, or without make-up on. We have both had a hard time dealing with our new ambience of outdoor sounds. Usually we walk outside to a mixture of cattle grazing and mooing, crickets, sheep baaing, tractors, leafs rustling, grass blowing and the quite country sounds. Now we walk outside to a variety of neighbors conversations, kids playing and laughing, lots of dogs barking, cars, cars, and more cars, the occasional train, and athletic activities at the high school. (yes, we are a block away from a very large high school) We get extra entertainment on the nights the band plays or practices. Yes, life with neighbors has made us “refine” ourselves and mostly my appearances.
We hope to get the tune of “Beverly Hillbillies” out of their minds before the year is over.
Tune In Tomorrow for…”Don’t Fence Me In”
Emily Adcock Photography & Design 