Reflections on Country Life - The Conveniences

Have you ever been curious about what it would be like to live in the country? Could you do it, or is it too dissimilar from what you are used to? I daydreamed for years about living in a small town, but one of my biggest reasons for not taking the leap was the loss of conveniences. Until we moved to our ranch 6 years ago, I had lived either in the suburbs of NYC or Denver, both of which had great benefits.

Supermarkets, shopping malls, highways and golf (this was incredibly important to me before we moved to the ranch) were just minutes away. If I ran out of 1/2 & 1/2 for my morning coffee, no problem, I could hop in the car and drive 5 minutes to the supermarket. Dinner? All kinds of take-out and eat in restaurants were within reach as were all the fresh ingredients I could possibly need to cook dinner.

In the past, I could ask hubby if he wanted chicken for dinner and I could run to the store to pick it up. Today the same question would mean grabbing some poor chicken out of the coop and “preparing” it, (that sounds so much better than butchering, doesn’t it), or taking an hour and a half out of my day to run to the store and back. We are a 25-minute drive one way to the closest supermarket so planning ahead as to what else might be needed in the future is important. A trip to the ranch store for poultry feed or the library for books are all figured into the planning process.

Now I don’t say any of this as a complaint, on the contrary, I feel so blessed to be able to drive the country roads and see all kinds of wildlife from deer and elk to coyotes and porcupines, and if I am out at dusk, I will usually see at least a half dozen Great Horned Owls perched on the power poles looking for that night’s dinner.

As odd as this may sound, after a while a 25-minute drive is a breeze. I can sing to the radio at the top of my lungs without getting odd looks from other drivers, or catch up on one of my Favorite Audiobooks. And of course we have the internet so if there is something I need that I don’t want to drive for, I can always order it online. It makes me wonder how folks managed when mail order was the way to get items not carried at your town’s mercantile store.

Looking through my 1902 Sears and Roebuck Catalogue, I found that a person could order anything from a “built to order buggy” for $57.75

to The Princess Bust Developer which was guaranteed to enlarge any lady’s bust from 3 to 5 inches, and it only cost $1.50…a bargain compared to what a plastic surgeon must charge these days! And even more interesting is we have a family here in town who lives in a Montgomery Ward kit home which was shipped to the original owners via the railroad…talk about convenience!! Have you considered starting a new life in the country? If so, I would love to hear what you think so don’t forget to comment below. Until next time, Happy Trails!

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