August 31, 2007

Pros and Cons of Living in 'Rural Suburbia'

There are a lot of reasons one might not want to live out in the middle of nowhere.


First of all, the price of gas makes it hard to justify leaving the house every single day. Many people act as though we live so far away that they feel they need to go to the bathroom and pack a snack before they drive to our house. (The drive is about 20-25 minutes for most of them.)


We also live too far out to have city water or be connected to a sewer system. We have to have our own well and septic tank. Our home can have problems that are not only costly but also completely disgusting.


Since we are on a well, we use electricity to actually pump our water out of the ground. When the power goes out, we don’t usually have much water either. And knowing I don’t have water always makes me thirsty!


There is no fast food around the corner. The nearest store is 7-8 miles away from our house and it doesn’t have the best selection or prices. We have a few little restaurants near the store but all of those are still at least a ten-minute drive from home. This can be seen as bad and good, since my thighs could be even larger were there a Taco Bell right around the corner!


There are some other good points to living in the ‘sticks.’


We can see the stars. You think you see a lot of stars and then you end up in a place where streetlights don’t exist and realize what ‘a lot of stars’ really means. You can hear crickets, frogs, and the occasional pack of wild dogs at night.


You can watch your television as loud as you like without disturbing your neighbors and they can do the same.

You can also, if you want to, pick up little critters like these little guys for the kids and know that you are actually zoned to own them!


That’s right! David surprised the girls with these little cuties just yesterday! They are supposed to all be hens and who doesn’t love fresh eggs? They are five days old now and so cute that it almost hurts!


OUCH!!!

6 comments:

wildtomato said...

Ouch! So cute!

Did you know that Berkeley and Oakland are also zoned for chickens? My friend has some, and boy do they produce a lot of poop.

Unknown said...

Send those pics in to cute overload! Oh my god, the melted hearts. The rainbow vomit...I must go find a baby chick to raise now, I must!

Unknown said...

I use to live it the "sticks" at my fathers house so I know exactly what you are talking about.

But now I live in the city and it is nice to be able to walk everywhere without starting up the car.

Wife Soup said...

I like your blog, and I can really relate, as I live in the "country" outside of Virginia Beach, on the opposite side of the continent. I love it though, and I soooo want chickens.

Shakes said...

I hope you don't end up with more roosters! They are just too cute! Thankfully Mr Man is not here to see the images. Lord knows he has to have every animal on earth!

Anonymous said...

Living 7-8 miles away from the nearest fast food isn't bad at all ;o)