why I like it here, part two

Deer poop in the road.

I know, it's another weird entry in this scattered, random series that I am beginning. But this afternoon I was walking along our quiet country road and had to sidestep deer poop, and it reminded me how wonderful it is to live where there are no streetlights, no traffic noise, no exhaust fumes, and no pavement.

I love that I can go for a walk and see one cat, one car, and one deer. And that's it.

I love the freshness of living in the country. We have had visitors comment on how far away we live from civilization, but we really don't. We are only fifteen minutes from town, or twelve minutes in the summer. We are as near to necessities as we were when we lived in busy, crowded Utah Valley. Only here it is fresh and lovely and tranquil. Our water is pure spring water, and our air is clean mountain air. And although we can see the homes of three neighbors, we usually can't hear them.

It is a beautiful place to live.

Tonight, the iridescent cotton candy sunset, reflected a little while ago in the countless puddles formed by newly melted snow, is fading into gray twilight. The black silhouettes of many tall pines are rustling and swinging as the warm chinook wind bursts through and between them. The chickens, after spending a few months confined mostly to their coop, now have feathers washed by rain and blow-dried by wind and are moving back to their roosts after a very satisfying day of scratching and pecking the newly-exposed grass.

Inside, the pieces of fabric that will make up our niece's birthday present are scattered across the couch, waiting to be assembled by the sewing machine, which is now fixed thanks to my dear mother-in-law. Keith is playing with Abraham and Rilla while I type for a few minutes... or rather, he is laying on the floor, where Rilla has spread a blanket over him and laid down next to him. She's not asleep, but I'm quite sure that Keith is. Abraham is sitting near them both, cooing about his toys and wondering why he is the most alert person in the room.

Hmm... I think my allotted blogging time is up. This post isn't quite what I wanted it to be, but I don't mind, because being in the midst of this beauty is much, much better than writing about it.