Peepers

I know I've talked and pondered and daydreamed out loud about wanting to live in a more lively place. A city, with people close to my age and all the perks of public transportation, close proximity of home & work & fun, eating out, entertainment and nightlife. In theory, that all sounds ideal. I certainly appreciate these aspects of more urban places when I go for a visit.

Tonight the peepers have come out and are singing their little hearts out from all sorts of soggy places here on Judy Branch. The wind is teasing the tips of trees and playing tunes on the wind chimes that hang all along my porch. It's times like this that I must be honest with myself (and with you, my two or three blog readers). There is no place I feel better than way out in the country, preferably mountain country, where the neighborhood noises are the sounds of the wind winding it's way through trees, dogs barking across the distance, cows munching on grass, peepers and bullfrogs celebrating a temporary escape from winter hibernation. Here on Judy Branch, I love how the sound of coal trains mingle with the sounds of insects and people working outside and the creek bubbling over roots and rocks. I love how I can feel somewhat alone but also in comfortable distance of the handful of neighbors living in this hollow. In the day and early evenings I love how I can hear (but not usually discern the words) of my neighbors sitting on their porches or working out in their yards. The chickens and horses down toward the head of the hollow. These sounds seem to bounce around the bowl in which we live, so that you can never really tell how far away that four wheeler or that newly weaned calf really is. You feel like you have your own space and privacy, but you also have the comfort of knowing there's good folks around should you need some help or some company.

My nearest neighbors are a young couple, just one year older than me. Whenever they see me, they tell me that one of the things they love about the warmer days here is when the sound of music drifts over from my porch into their windows. I love to practice my banjo on the porch swing, and I've been known to host a few all night jams on spring or summer nights. It's nice to live in a place where the neighbors get up in the middle of the night to open more windows to let the music drift in rather than calling the police and filing a complaint!

In my heart, I am such a country girl. I love that I cannot hear the sound of traffic from a busy road and that I know well in advance if anyone is approaching my house - whether by four-wheeler, car, horse or by foot. I love that there's no street lights, and that on cloudy or moonless nights, if I forget to leave on the porch light, I have to use my keychain flashlight to find my way to the house. I love that if I'm preparing a meal or working on a project, that if I don't have something I need - like a cup of all purpose flour or a socket wrench - that instead of running to the store, the first thing I do is call my neighbors and see if I can borrow. Going to the store and back would take up so much time, and when there's an option of staying here on Judy Branch, I'd much rather do that almost any day.

So tonight, accompanied by a chorus of peepers, windows and porch doors wide open and surrounded by my furry family, I give thanks and sing the praises for my life here on Judy Branch.