Simple Living

Among the many reasons I love living here is the stress free environment and the peaceful style of living. There is no rushing, pushing, pressuring, or upsetting. Some times it is just not necessary to worry about the little things when other things have priorities. Some times the priorities are to go fishing, taking a canoe down the river, playing with the dogs, or watching the bread dough rise. It didn't take me long to adapt to that way of life after moving here from the big urban area. I learned that when I am making a left turn onto a busy street, and someone pulls up beside me to make a right hand turn, it is nice to see them smile and wave when I back up a bit so they can see the traffic. Smiles are another priority. It is contagious. People do it all the time. Soon it becomes impossible to walk down the street without someone smiling or greeting you with a "Aren't you just loving the sunshine today!"
Sometimes the priorities are to work in the yard and see how pretty it looks when it is all trimmed up and the weeds are gone. The exercise is invigorating and you feel good about what you have accomplished, even if it doesn't last that long.
I like the sound of the mill grinding the wheat and the smell of the yeast when I'm baking it into bread. I like the popping sound of the popcorn in the pan on the stove. I like the tranquility of the action and the humming of the treadle sewing machine sewing together quilt blocks.
When I do start feeling a little pressure, it's great to go to the river and cast into the current for trout. Sometimes I purposely forget to use any bait so I can just enjoy the cold water rushing through my legs and I can watch the blue herons and the fox and the buzzards, or just look at the rocks and the cliffs. The river is a great decompression chamber for me.
I make my own lye soap and my own laundry soap. I like being frugal but more importantly I like things natural and healthy. Doing the back to basics thing is fun and satisfying.
Before I am done using the wood burning stove for the season, I have a couple more cast iron pans I need to get cleaned up. If you use cast iron, you know how it can form black stuff that just won't scrub off. I just put them down in the fire overnight and the next morning I pull them out and the stuff is completely gone. I have to clean off the ashes, then "season" them again, and they are good as new for another couple of years depending on how much I use them.
Some times it is a wonderful feeling to sit in the rocker on the porch and take a deep breath and listen to the sound of the birds and the breeze. If it is quiet enough you can hear the sound of the tiny lizards scampering across the rocks.
When the peace and quiet becomes unbearable, I put the 1812 Overture in the CD player and try to memorize every note of it.
This simple life is for me.