rural life

At the Break Of Day

At the Break Of Day

What I’ll miss about moving closer to the city? This.

It’s something I’ve learned while we’ve been out house hunting: I need trees, green space, a sense of privacy, nature, birds chirping, and clear seasonal changes.

I need to feel like the woods are only a short walk away. That there’ll be foggy fields on my way into work. That my home will be well shaded by trees.

I need light filtering through branches and boughs.


Goodbye Hedgerow

Goodbye Hedgerow

Goodbye Hedgerow – Pulaski, Michigan

A sad sight – lots of farms in south central Michigan are removing their hedgerows. The reason is probably straight economics, since the tree line limits a farm’s arable land.

But still: hedgerows are what makes my country road commute so lovely, each and every season. Now there are just flat fields from horizon to horizon.


Pumpkin Patching

Nothing like shopping for the perfect pumpkin at the local farm.

Autumn in Michigan is pretty great. And though my mood takes a turn for the worse because of the creeping darkness, I’m really trying to embrace this fall. It helps that the weather has been so great all October.

So let’s do it. Let’s do the Halloween thing and the pumpkins and the cider (lots of cider, what with six orchards within 20 minutes of my house). Let’s beat back the oncoming winter blues with some autumnal spirit.