Missing My Home in the Country

I have found myself lately following a lot of blogs from people who live in the country and have small farms. Farms with chickens, cows, goats, pigs, horses and critters of all kinds and I must confess it has made me long for the days I used to live in the country. The sights, sounds and smells I am finding myself missing dearly. The freedom of the country will always call me home. The long drives through the forest on returning from a stressful day of work was always one of my favorite things to do. I could drive for hours and never hit a paved road and never see another living soul during these drives. I would often find myself stopping by the creeks and skipping rocks, listening to the water gently falling down the waterfalls, hear the birds calling up above and just lay back on the creek bed and watch the sky and de-stress the day away. More often than not I would see deer in the edges of the forest, gingerly walking along and eating their afternoon meal. Standing by the edge of a pond their ears perked for passing cars and sounds of another world. Deers are one of the sights I miss the most of country living. My family once raised a deer from a newborn to about three months of age. From the time of her spots till the time they disappeared, she was our baby and we raised her in our house just like the puppies. We named her "Free" because we knew someday when she was ready we would turn her loose and let her be free again. Not now but another time, maybe tomorrow, I will tell you all about Free.

I lived for many years in the country in a town called Mountain View in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. The town is called "the folk music capital" of the world or so I was always told. You could always find musicians sitting around the court square playing fiddles, guitars and banjos from daylight till dusk. I remember quite vividly when I first moved there making fun of this type of music and saying more than once "how could anybody enjoy listening to that crap", but over time it grew on me. To the point that I found myself being one of the ones who would take my lawn chair and sit around the fires in the evenings listening and tapping my foot to the music they played.Mountain View is also famous for it's Beanfest and Great Champion Outhouse Races. This is held in October of each year and most of the business's on the court square gather together and cook huge iron kettles of beans around the square. Along with pans and pans of cornbread to accompany the beans. When they have cooked and prepared this feast for several hours then it's all passed out to the visitors for free. Games are played all day long, music is also played and crafters from all over the state have booths set up around the square. After the beans are ate it's time for the annual outhouse races. Anyone can participate and everyone has fun. You should see some of the outhouses they have built over the years. All naturally have a toilet seat where the driver sits and many have toilet paper streaming out the backs of the outhouses on wheels. It is a sight to see. They have certain specifications they have to adhere to. One person sits on the "throne" and they can have as many "pushers" as necessary to win the race.

There were so many things to do while living in the country. We camped quite often by Sylamore Creek which joins and runs into White River. Regardless of what time of year you went for a dip in the creek it was cold. Almost a blue cold as you could see when leaving the water. Your lips were blue but regardless our kids couldn't get enough. We also took many tours in Blanchard Springs Caverns.

I lived in this town for about 12 years and do still go back to visit my son and grandchildren as often as I can. I don't know if I will ever call it home again but in my heart it will always be home to me.