Friday, October 14, 2011

Twenty Signs You're Living the Rural Life

It's Friday so I thought I'd have a little fun.  Most of the things on this list I've experienced personally, albeit a few items are totally slightly exaggerated.

Google Image

1.  Your road has a number.  And the road that connects to your road has another route number.  And the road that connects....well, you get the point.
2.  The color of your car is no longer cerulean blue - you've renamed it "Gravel Gray".
3.  You've baled a black snake when getting up hay.
4.  You spend half of your year mowing.  The other half of the year you spend chopping wood.
5.  You've lived without water during electricity outages and droughts.
6.  You know 40 different detours to get home in case of flooding.
7.  You are your neighbor's cows-donkeys-goats-horses home-away-from-home whenever their fence goes down.
8.  You've foraged for food on your own land - berries, mushrooms, apples, walnuts, etc.
9. You own bib overalls.  And you don't just wear them for Halloween.
10.  You didn't leave your house for two months that winter the snow plows forgot about you.
11.  You've bought organic blood before and you're not even a vampire.
12.  You live so far out that you've never had a trick-or-treater.
13.  If there are four clouds in the sky your cell phone goes on strike and won't work.
14.  You've never had pizza delivered.
15. The frogs are so loud at night in the summer you need ear plugs to sleep.
16. You've never seen all the parts of your property.  Who has the time?
17. Your mail carrier drives an old beat up brown car with a magnetic light strapped to the top by reaching over from the passenger seat.
18.  When the speed limit is 45, people either interpret that as drive 15 mph or drive 80 mph, depending on how fast their truck will go.
19.  Hunting season is a county-wide holiday that lasts 4 months.  Real employment is discouraged during this time.
20.  You have yet another mouse in your car (post coming soon!).


Okay, folks, what did I miss?

41 comments:

Jill said...

Lisa, this is adorale! You did a great job of painting life in the country. :)

Only problem is, now I'll be singing Green Acres all day! ha!

Steve Surratt said...

Ha ha, I love the Green Acres pic. How about: You never have to worry about the water/sewer bill going up? You ARE the water company.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

OMG.. the mouse smell when they die somewhere under the hood or in the dash. Been there.. done that.

How about.. when it rains with heavy cloud cover, thanks to satelite TV, there is no TV.. just a haze of static.

Unknown said...

I didn't know you had blood delivered. Does it come in a the beat up postal car?

Chatty Crone said...

Cute and I know you LOVE each and every one of them! sandie

Melodie said...

This list makes city folks just stare in disbelief while us country folks are nodding our head going Yep...yep...yep!

trump said...

Very cute post Lisa, and i can relate to at least most of these. Richard

TexWisGirl said...

these are great! i can relate to about 80% of them personally! :)

yeah, besides the cell phone, there does have to be something about the fact that if the clouds sneeze, you're likely to lose phone, satellite or internet service! and throw in something about having the septic tank pumped for some added 'flavor'. :)

Nancy Grossi ~ Churned In Cali ~ The Wife of a Dairyman said...

Oh gosh, a mouse in the car, I think I would die!

Sandy said...

I can't believe that I have experienced all of them either now or growing up or both. The only exception is being snowed in. Growing up in Indiana our "neighbor" was the only anesthesiologist for the only hospital in the county so from his house to town was first priority snow clearing route. I do admit there are times when I would like a pizza delivered, but I think I would eat too much pizza if it were that easy!

Dawn said...

Bahahahahah...Oh SO TRUE! Although..I have yet to own the overalls. I only borrow;)
As for you post on the mouse in the car....I HAD ONE TOO....just a couple weeks ago! So I borrowed the Hubs truck...and by the time I returned his truck...he had one in the glove compartment.
It's an epidemic.
Might it be that we feed our kids in our vehicles....;))

Valerie Boersma said...

Having city slicker neighbors who don't know a thing abut country life: My friend Paula and her husband own a hay farm. Recently some people from Seattle moved into the adjoining property and thought that the best way to deal with the vegetable garden they couldn't manage was to burn it. This was just at the start of the hay cutting season, mind you, and the fire got out of control and nearly ignited Paula and her husband's hay field! Needless to say, they paid their new neighbor a visit...

Funny post Lisa! I enjoyed it!

Hayley said...

lol awesome! I so wish we had a massive piece of land like you guys.

Out here, some of that- like the hunting- applies. But only the wealthy have land out here. It's trendy for them to build mcmansions on 5 acres of flat, treeless field. Some of them will keep horses, or llamas and goats because "they're cute". It's sad.

I cannot wait to hear about your stowaway :-)

Anonymous said...

We're country--not quite THAT country, but much of this I can relate to!

Hayley said...

PS- I really need to see a pic of you in your overalls, holding a bag of organic blood. It is Halloween!

GypsyFarmGirl said...

Love it! Lol. Never had a trick or treated or pizza delivered for sure! I'm sure many more of those qualify for us as well! That's sounds lime our mail lady too!

Chris said...

LOL that's a hoot.

Still have many of those to tick off.

Ginny Hartzler said...

LOVED this, although the bit about the organic blood is a bit creepy! I hope you are not planning a nasty surprise for the Trick-Or-Treaters, ha ha!! I know what you mean about hunting season, though. Oh NO!! Not another mouse!!! Well, more fun for us followers, I totally enjoyed your last post about the mouse, and especially liked seeing his little house.

warren said...

It may be everywhere but when I was in school, the first day of buck and the first day of doe were scheduled days off. They knew no one would come anyhow so they built it into the calendar...and that is awesome!

Another one might be that you strap your garbage can lids down to avoid raccoons/bears/etc from getting an evening snack.

Gun shots rarely make you even flinch.

You can actually see stars at night

Sally said...

So funny, and pretty much on the mark I'd say.

Have a good weekend, Lisa!

Eat To Live said...

I hate to admit it, but I can identify with most of those.

As far as the mouse goes, I am going to post Monday what I have had to do here to keep them away.

Andrea said...

Love this list! Thanks for sharing a bit of your life here with us all. :P

Misty said...

i don't live a rural life and your list didn't really make me wish I did.

Jill said...

Well...that pretty much covers it. Loved that list. I would also add...waking up to livestock on the front porch or yard.

Unknown said...

Wow, and I love every bit of it cause...I miss it! Hugs!

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking said...

This is such a cute post!! I really got a chuckle out of your list!

Nancy said...

Happy to say I have experienced probably 85% of what's on your list.

Have a great weekend, Lisa. :)

Liz Mays said...

Oh man, I couldn't do it. I could visit (want me to?) but I couldn't do the country life. That mouse alone....

Katie said...

Organic blood? That was hilarious and one of the few I haven't experienced. I just posted about a rural "issue" I carry about...INTERNET service. Cell phone and internet service would make my list of 20. Like: You drop calls in mid-sentence 17x a day.

camp and cottage living said...

Great post Lisa!
That mouse point sure hit home. I've never had any in our cabin, but if we park the car close to the shed a mother mouse always likes to have her babies in our car insulation! I think we've finally wised up and quit parking there.

laughwithusblog said...

Loved it! Growing up in the country I can relate! People that came to the house would say we lived in the boonies! Oh no not another mouse! Can't wait.

Samantha said...

These made me laugh out loud..and say "yep" a million times.

Michaele said...

You got that right! Fun reading.

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Another mouse--oh no! Great post! I used to love visiting my grandparents farm, but I'm not sure country life is for me. Maybe if I could live just a few minutes from the city. I like my pizza delivery. :)

Tiggeriffic said...

You hit the head on the nail on how it goes with country living.
I have 6 gallons of water stored in the basement, just in case the electricity goes off. At least I can flush the stool.
We have Mice too....I have live traps in the basement and I give them a road trip 5 miles up the road.
Have a tiggeriffic day ~ ta ta for now from Iowa:)

Jenny @ Practically Perfect... said...

Oh, I loved this! I grew up in the country (definitely don't live there now!). I could check off almost all of these.

Tales of Whimsy said...

OMG that's awesome.

Myya said...

Uh oh another mouse... Booo!

Some of these could be for small town folk too :)

Angela said...

Hey! Are you my neighbor and I didn't know it! lol I can and do relate to most of all of your signs of rural life! Do you store up food for the Winter just in case you can't get out or don't want to go out because the roads are bad?

jennohara said...

Love these! Too cute!!

Tina L. Hook said...

Um. I am beginning to relate to a few of these. Still new to this lifestyle.

Check on #7. #15. #17