Greeeeen acres is the place to be....

Lord have mercy, what a crummy day at work. It was looking pretty good in the morning, but got progressively worse as the day wore on. I hope my coworkers who work this weekend don't have too bad a time of it, but it's sure not looking good for the weekend.

I was in a pretty foul mood when I got home, but Cousin Shane made my day. We haven't seen each other for a while, due mostly to work, so he decided to not wait any longer for a visit, and sent my Christmas present to me. I gave a little gasp of delight when I opened it--he got me a DVD of Mystery Science Theater 3000! When I lived in Indianapolis, he'd come down to visit, and one of the things we'd do is watch several episodes of MST3K. I remember times when we were just rolling on the floor with laughter! This has three movies on it, including my favorite MST3K take, "The Sidehackers," along with "shorts," usually movie newsreels from the '50's and '60's. Fun stuff, and I wrote to him that his present blew my foul mood right out of the water. Thanks, Cuz!

To put me in a better mood, I was planning on writing about something near and dear to my heart...Nutwood Junction! Not this journal, but the place. (For anyone new, that's what we call our little homestead.) This is prompted by Dr. Will's most recent entry, about being a native New Yorker and moving to Indiana. You can imagine what a culture shock that would be, and Dr. Will writes very eloquently about it. While he misses some things, he finds that the quieter pace is worth it (as long as he and his wife get to visit NYC once in a while).

I grew up in this area, and I was happy to leave small town life behind when I went off to college. After a few years, I ended up in Indianapolis, which is not huge, but still a good-sized city, with plenty to do and plenty going on. I spent 7 years there, and really enjoyed all the concerts I got to go to, and going out to eat or have drinks with my friends. I ended up moving back to this area, which is where my family still lives. I had a house in suburbia with a boyfriend, and after I left him (one of the best things I ever did for myself, by the way), my apartment was on the edge of town, overlooking a large pond. I was slowly but surely heading for the boondocks!

After Ken and I met and got married, we ended up here, at Nutwood. It's 11 acres in a rural area, part woods and part wetlands. It's not always easy--there's a lot of work to do, and there have been several times when I haven't been able to make it out of our driveway. But believe me, I wouldn't trade it for anything. We still enjoy our vacations and visits to large cities, including quick trips to Chicago and Dr. Will's hometown of New York City! It's always an exciting time, and there is so much to do and so much to see, but I'm always happy to return to my sanctuary.

The hustle and bustle of the city is always fun to experience, but living in the country has reminded me of what my parents taught me when I was growing up, about how to respect and appreciate the world around us. The peace and quiet of living in the country has given me a chance to reflect on what is important to me, and to find my own inner peace and quiet. When I'm out in the garden planting or harvesting--or more often, weeding!--or sitting on the deck reading, I sometimes just stop to listen to the sounds around me. There are often sounds of lawnmowers or chainsaws, but there are times when there's nothing but me and the voice of nature. A cardinal singing, a breeze rustling the leaves, the plop of a frog jumping into one of the ponds...it gives me a deeper understanding of how connected we are to the earth, its creatures, and a higher power.

When we moved in at Nutwood, I remember telling my friend Jay that we were happy to find such a place, and wanted to be conscientious caretakers. We don't really own it...it will still be here when we're gone, at least I hope so. But while we're here, we'll take good care of Nutwood and its inhabitants. It's the least we can do, because it certainly takes good care of us, body, mind, and soul.

 

Tags: Blogplugs, Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Sidehackers, Dr. Will Miller