People always ask whether I like where we live. I grew up at the shore. We now live, as some say, "in the middle of nowhere." Many comment that they would never move here and leave the beach. At times, I must admit, I really miss the ocean. We visit, it's great, and then we come home.Home to my girls is very different than the home I knew growing up. Home for them is not a place where we can drive 15 minutes and be at the ocean and the boardwalk. It's not a place where summer camp includes afternoons at the beach. Home is now a place where my children come with me weekly to a local farm to pick up (and pick) our weekly vegetables during the CSA season. The farmers are there and the produce is amazing. We can also stop at the turkey farm down the road and purchase local bottled nonfat milk that is creamier than 2% from the large grocery stores and, if it happens to be on Friday, fresh-baked goods (the BEST apple dumplings!) set up on tables outside by the folks who made them. They accept only cash and keep it in a box.
On Monday, the girls spent time at a friend's house and were so proud that they found 18 eggs laid by the chickens. I also got to hear all about how they actually "saw one of the eggs coming out!" Which reminds me of how over winter break last month, we were at another friend's. The kids were all outside skating on a huge puddle/pond and got quite wet. As I was checking pockets before throwing the coats in the drier, I felt something slimy. Yes, it was a broken egg from the last egg-hunting adventure, squashed accidentially by my baby girl sliding sideways across the ice.
So while we cannot drive 15 minutes and be at the ocean, we can drive 15 minutes and watch our apple cider being pressed on an old-fashioned machine here and on a weekly basis we check to see if the calves are out in the pasture with their mamas. Oh, and the picture above is my view every morning while waiting with my girls for the school bus. The owners of this property also have a pet goat that the girls "talk" to sometimes. Just in case anyone still has that question; Yes, I really do like where we live!
