Country Life is Just More Neighborly . . .
I grew up in the suburbs, I have lived in the big city, and now I live in the country. I have seen acts of kindness and help extended in all these environments, but I have come to the conclusion that the most neighborly place to live is in the country.
I think the reason why there is more of this desire to be helpful because of the unspoken understanding that we all have to be there for each other-- because we are all more remote.
This post stems from the recent snow storms and a neighbor with a plow, plowed our driveway, and that of the elderly woman who lives next to us, twice this past weekend. It was a neighborly, selfless act . . . (I have seen many examples).
Next season, I expect to have a plow pickup and hope to pay it forward . . .
Categories: Homesteading, Self Sufficiency, Simple Living, Personal Philosophy
Tags: Homesteading Self Sufficiency Simple Living Personal Philosophy
Long ago, many of us stopped counting on our family, friends and neighbors as we have been taught to look towards government to fix things. Life in the country is a bit different. You have to count on your family, friends and neighbors - and that's the way it should be.
Just over the last year, I buried two horses for my neighbor, and dug another grave for a neighbor's horse that is expected to die this winter. He lives 4 miles from me, and that's quite a ways to drive an old backhoe.
I don't expect payment for such things, for I purchased the backhoe so my friends and neighbors would have access to another type of tool here in our "voluntary village". My dump truck has also come in handy for saving us lots of work with shovels and trailers.
My payback will come later as my neighbors vow to "get even with me". Many here pay it forward, and that's the way it should be. One neighbor has a vehicle hoist, and the whole "village" uses it.
Communities should evolve on their own to the extent they want to. That's the idea of "contract" versus social engineering that government is so fond of - and so many of us have become dependent on.
Clair
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