# 472 - Country-Life is Marvelous

Over three months ago, we moved from the Greater Houston area to take a wild chance with finally moving onto the acreage we've owned since our kids were younger.

To be honest, many of our family and friends believed we were nuts for leaving big city boundaries.

Many of them hoped we would sell the big house and buy a smaller house to suit the needs of our empty-nester status. However, we felt much too young to embrace hefty life-reduction changes. Heck, society is full of people who live longer and who enjoy being in nature instead of being stuck in a residence on a city corner block.

I had more than a few family and friends suggest we "forget" about our crazy dream of moving to a rural area.

Well, the craziness continued. We sold the two-story monstrosity, bought an RV, and moved to our rural property so we could make preparations to build a country cabin.

It has been WONDERFUL and challenging!

One thing is for sure, the dogs love the wide open spaces. And on a recent road trip between our country home to see our oldest daughter, Heather, I had this experience with my Aussie, Howdy, as we stopped for food. See the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8FdK18yGtc&feature=share&list=UUoaSSiZFXLv3-gLeGBvODvQ

As for moving to the country full-time, the challenges have been worth it. Living in the country is worth every step through the dirt. It's worth the many weeks we lived without electricity and were powered by gas generator. It's worth the transition that includes living in an RV as we prepare to build a home without wheels.

When we must leave to go elsewhere, it's nice to come back to this piece of earth because it feels as if we are HOME. It goes to prove, home is not a structure, it is the place where the heart resides.

Between the economy spiraling downward and the deepening issues with disastrous events potentially targeting or threatening our largest cities, we decided to get out while we could. If it wasn't necessary, then we were still living a life in the country that was our preferred environment.

Of course, we had owned acreage for many years. Plus, I grew up with a family who always had property in the country or a country home of some sort. My grandmother had a "fish-camp" located a short distance from our rural acreage, so the Big Thicket area has always been in my blood, from birth.

Our move to the country felt natural, yet the change from city life to country life requires some trade-offs. A major difference we noticed, right away, was the inability to ORDER hot and fresh PIZZA for delivery to the front door.

Augh!!

But, the opportunity to wake up and to walk outside in the morning, in privacy, in the midst of nature's business...to hear the birds warbling, to see the trees swaying and to feel the dry brush crunching beneath my feet...it is marvelous.

Yes, marvelous.