Far from the madding crowd...

 

Oh, how thankful I am to have been born in America and that I now live in such a lovely rural piece of it in the top corner Northwest Pennsylvania.   I like the cold and snow of winter and the spring green that is so bright it almost hurts your eyes. I love the cool nights of summer and the multicolor leaves and crisp air of Autumn.  I don’t think I could live as happily somewhere that doesn’t have such a noticeable change of seasons.  It is also lovely and … peaceful here.

Actually, I think there is beauty in every single part of this country – even in the cities, and I don't tend to give cities credit for much these days. Anyway -- from shimmering desert to foggy mountain tops, through soil rich plains to swamps dripping with Spanish moss – there is something for everyone and… most importantly…  we are free.  Perhaps that freedom is the ultimate beauty.

Life in rural America, for me, is one relatively untouched by the outside world…. No traffic. Very little pollution. Living is somehow easier, I think. Rural America tends to be the forgotten and overlooked and sometimes that is okay. There is a lot to consider. Life in rural America, for me, is relatively simple in comparison to the more complex life of urban America. It is a life where the focus is mostly on family and on community.  People know each other by face if not by name.  People reach out with a helping hand to those they don’t know.  Generosity is alive… as is kindness… and the thing is – you can see it every day.  It is also a relatively safe place to be these days. That counts ... a lot.

It’s March and time to pretend that it is Spring here in snow country.  We know -- as we still have to put on our boots, coats, hats, gloves and scarves at times --  that it won’t be long now until we can open the windows to let in the fresh air and walk outside to feel the grass under our bare feet. Once in a while we have a hint of that even in March. The cycle moves on. Not everyone in the world is as fortunate.

Think I will stay here a bit longer ….  It’s nice – even if there are those who think it is in the middle of nowhere. They don't know what they are missing. I have been thinking a lot lately about my good fortune… about peace… about freedom.  I have decided that I understand why people cherish their freedom and why people stay to defend their homes ... if they are left to defend.

God Bless them all.

"Let there be peace on earth... 

  the peace that was meant to be...."