Is an Idyll Ideal?
by Have you had thoughts of giving up your life as a townie and moving to the countryside? Perhaps you should have a rethink. The writer recounts life as a yokel from personal experiences.
Fresh Air?
It doesn’t come any fresher than the continual dust storms in the summer, the plethora of pollen and the diesel fumes from the tractors, an asthmatics dream.
The aroma of muck spreading or wet cabbages is an acquired taste (or smell) as well.
Low Crime Rate?
Don’t bank on it! Kid’s setting light to corn fields and joy riders dumping and burning out stolen cars.
The latest fad is trail bikers revving up their engine outside your house before they take off over the farmers crops. My local farmer had £10,000 worth of broccoli destined for Marks and Spencer’s vandalised in this way, a couple of years ago.
They may give the farmer a break and ride along public footpaths and bridleways, an illegal act in the UK.
Some mornings you will wake up, throw open the curtains and there it is, on the roadside verge opposite your house, a pile of builders rubble, car tyres and garden rubbish. You didn’t hear them, but while you were sleeping you had a visit from the townie fly tippers!
You may also be troubled with unreportable crime in the guise of horses and livestock trespassing in your front garden, grazing on the lawn and the herbaceous borders.
I can guarantee that you will never be bothered with police patrol cars passing your house. If you phone the police station in your nearest town for assistance, be prepared to wait a couple of days before they arrive. Of course, there is always a possibility that they can’t find your house, and never arrive.
Are You Made of the Right Stuff?
Summing up, do you really want noise, vermin, smells and crime?
To add to this, will you be happy driving for ten minutes to get your Sunday paper or a bottle of milk from your local shop?
Because of post office closures, do you really want to drive the ten miles to the nearest town to send a parcel?
You pay for 10MB broadband, do you want to receive just 1Mb because you live miles upon miles from the telephone exchange?
Do you mind your mobile phone being redundant at home because it is, and always will be, impossible to get a signal?
Will you be able to survive without lighting, heating, TV, desktop PC, washing machine, dishwasher, cordless phone, lighting and every electrical gadget in your life, when power lines are down for a couple of days in the middle of winter?
If you can answer yes to every one of these questions, then all I can say is ‘Welcome, neighbour.’!
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Post CommentLOVELYHONEY
On May 17, 2009 at 9:55 am
really good ,
but times change,
as we all do
marisolflamenco
On May 17, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Great post!!!!!!
My answer is yes!!!!!!
payge
On May 17, 2009 at 4:10 pm
that kind of life would be interesting to try but I would go back to the city….has asmtha and Id have a hard time there.Other then that,great article,loves the pic with the cottage in it.
Glynis Smy
On May 17, 2009 at 4:17 pm
From someone who moved from Essex in UK to a rural village in Cyprus…yes I can.
Interesting article.
ladybaby
On May 17, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Sounds GREAT to me. I’d welcome the sounds and smells. I’d love the PEACE of not having to be bothered with all the technical gadgets of today. I hate all this technology.
George W Whitehead
On May 18, 2009 at 2:37 am
#4 Glynis.
It’s interesting that you moved from Essex, that’s the very place that this article is based on. I’m sure you don’t have half of these problems in Cyprus!
If any estate agents have read this article, sorry, but it’s true!
swatilohani
On May 19, 2009 at 3:25 am
great
Melody SJAL
On May 19, 2009 at 6:24 am
Very nicely put…a very realistic view of provincial life, which sometimes is overlooked.
clay hurtubise
On May 19, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Interesting piece, especially as we’re about to sell and move to the country!
Thanks,
Clay
richard reed
On May 21, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Great write,I am originally from Brooklyn New York,but moved to a small little town in PA.I live right in front of, Valley Forge National Park,I never seen so many deers in my life and exspecialy in my back yard,,It was said that soldiers marched behind my house back in the day,anyway its amazing to me cause the difference is unreal however the crime is truly the same,and coming from the city I think see it a little easier..I dont know, but I would love to be a neighbor of yours…great write and nice pic..BLESS YOU ALWAYS..YOUR FRIEND AND FAN…RICH
mdartist
On May 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Fantastic reading! I’m sure its very true. But, I found myself smiling and grinning almost through the whole article. Don’t know if it was ment for funny reading but thats how I read it. And enjoyed it thouroughly. Don’t usually care for long reading time but I just couldn’t stop.
Hope it ok to put you on my “Friend” list?
LOVELYHONEY
On May 29, 2009 at 2:33 am
I THOUGHT U WERE 1941 BORN,
AND UR NEW SNAP SHOWS U R 16,
WHICH PROVES ONE POINT ,
internet ,
please do fret ,
who you are talking to,
you know not yet.
that for george,
i can bet.
RS Wing
On June 4, 2009 at 7:14 am
yes, yes, yes,…I’ve resided in cities and country life settings, my experiences may differ a bit but the country is far more satisfying….If I diddn’t have children I’d pitch a tent in the Catskill Mountains and happily live off the land only it may turn into that great movie…Mosquito Coast with Harrison Ford….if you have never viewed it,…it’s a must see! excellent piece George!
Jackie118
On June 7, 2009 at 5:06 am
Never a truer word spoken, George! I can add to your list of ‘niggling nature’ problems. Cabbaga white butterflies, slugs and snails, and green/blackfly!! The cabbage white’s destroyed my brassicas last year and my beautiful dahlias and nasturtiums were covered in blackfly. I’ve got a climbing rose which smells divine but every time I sniff it I get a nose full of greenfly and as to the continuing battle between slugs/snails and my runner beans, lettuces, cucumbers and courgettes. just don’t go there!!
Gijo
On June 9, 2009 at 9:41 am
Good article. My feeling is that we should be able to enjoy life wherever we are located.
Sandra A Flowers
On June 15, 2009 at 3:12 pm
an awesome article!!
HelloSiti
On June 20, 2009 at 3:16 am
I really agreed because I moved to countryside too.
Ruby Hawk
On June 24, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I lived in the country most of my life. Now I live in an apartment in the city and it isn’t that much different.I didn’t mind the birds, deer, or any of that.But I didn’t like the moles and voles rooting my garden or Japanese beetles eating my plants, or mowing the yard,or driving long distances to the stores. It was quieter in the country. Now when our neighbors decide to party all night we really can’t sleep.And I don’t have a yard or garden. I think it’s a toss up. But I will say city living is a lot less work and less driving.
Jaye McCaffery
On June 30, 2009 at 2:58 pm
So true. I live in the west of Ireland – a quiet spot you’d think. My god, the racket – with cows, sheep and donkeys all going off at the same time it’s like living on the set of jurassic park.
Rajiv Sighamony
On July 31, 2009 at 2:22 am
great article