For the next issue of our magazine, we’re going to dedicate a couple of pages to Simple Country Pleasures. I thought it might be fun to list our COLLECTIVE ideas on that here—for a two-page collage in MaryJanesFarm magazine with each of our names attached.
What is (or are) your simple country pleasures?????
At the top of my list is the sound that pine needles make in the wind. It’s a far-away sound that washes over me like surf. When I take a moment to stop and listen, I feel like I’m floating, bobbing above the surface of all my busyness.
Anyone love going barefoot in their garden?
How about lovin’ the country wave?
Night sounds that lull you to sleep?
My favorite simple country pleasure is to sit on my front porch, with a cup of tea & listen to the birds singing. It’s a beautiful symphony to me!
Going for a drive in the country for that reason alone … going just to see what is OUT THERE … and maybe stopping along the way to check out a pond or whatever it may be that sparks an interest. My grandparents loved to go for a sunday drive and I can remember laying on the back seat with my feet dangling out, feeling the cool wind on them. I can still see that vision, like an old photo … my feet as a child … smaller and cuter back then :o)
I love hanging laundry on the line in the sunshine. Especially if it is a little breezy. All my cares and worries seem to get hung out to dry up and go away too. There is something meditative about hanging laundry.
The other one is going out to the garden to see what is ready for that night’s supper. Usually I’m barefoot and I can spend forever just hanging out and smelling the tomatoes, onions, lemon balm, strawberries, and above all, the dirt. 🙂
Ahhh…the sounds of the night. Coyote’s crying in the distance…even better when they come close. Whip-poor-wills calling back and forth…bull frogs calling for a mate in the pond. The stillness of the night is music to my soul.
The sounds of children’s laughter while playing outside is my all-time favorite sound. During a recent spell of HOT weather, we laid out a huge plastic tarp, added a sprinkler, and our kids, the neighborhood kids, and even the adults got in on the fun. The tinkling sound of children’s laughter lights up my day!
Barefoot in the garden, check. Hanging laundry, check. Fresh corn on the cob. Cottonwood leaves. The smell of woodsmoke. Old pioneer apple trees gone sprawly and tangled, old varieties like Gravenstein and Yellow Transparent. Looking up at the stars at night, following the Big Dipper and Orion as he rises in the fall. Watching the phases of the moon, feeling close to the turning of the seasons.
The little things noticed every day are what give life magic and poetry, pull our heads out of the clouds and place our feet firmly back on earth.
We lived in a city of half a million for many years; it is never quiet there…not for one, blessed second! My favorite thing about living here is the quiet. There are sounds of course, but it is not noisy!
I like living in a very small town, where everyone knows each other very well. Things are so slow and laid back here, so tourists don’t like it too much. It doesn’t matter if an item can be paid for today, because the shop owner knows it will be paid tomorrow or sometime next week. We seem to know everything about each other, even the embarrassing stuff. But it’s okay! Rumors and gossip spread through town like wildfire, then it’s over with because the next rumor starts. We try to support the tiny businesses that are here, and also barter a lot. The auto repair place rotated my tires last week for a cb radio that I had. I get sheeps wool for spinning in exchange for eggs. This place and these people, are my simply country pleasure.
I love nature, listening to the wildlife behind me in the Swamp, hearing the coyotes, roosters crowing. Sitting on the front porch (if I ever have the time) sipping iced tea or lemonaid and watching the birds at the feeders and the beautiful sunsets are out of this world…Taking walks down the dirt road…simple things.
No noise! And woodsmoke! We are currently living in a large city and are not allowed to even burn logs in the fireplace due to air pollution regulations! Can you believe it? So one of the things I LOVE to do when I go visit my parents is to have a fire – even better, a fire in the pit outside! Woodsmoke is so soothing to me!
I live in the city, but recently an ordinance was passed for backyard chickens. I love nothing more than sitting in my back yard at night, listening to “my girls” clucking as they free-range in the back yard. I also love tomatoes from my garden, warm from the vine and mixed with fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and mozzarella ciliegine, spooned atop slices of fresh french bread. Nothing tastes better on a hot summer evening.
When I lived in the Inland Empire, I loved the wheat fields just before harvest – “The waves of grain”! Living in Fort Worth, TX, I find great pleasure watching the butterflies in my front yard. Late September and all of October there are usually 50 during the day. They come to eat the blue mist, flitting around all day.
I love walking around my property, with my dog, visiting the cows, chickens and the gardens. Fresh air, warm sunshine caressing my skin, listening to the rythem of my heart beat and the sound of my feet hitting the ground. I am trully blessed to be surrounded by so much beauty!
I love to be able to walk in the fall with the leaves swirling all around. Crunching leaves on the way to school was a favorite past time as a child and I still love it today. The colors and spicy fragrance of autumn leaves is just a thrill. I live in the South and hate the heat so when that cool air that signify the start of fall comes around, I am in seventh heaven. If not walking then just sitting on my deck and taking in the splendor.
My favorite simple country pleasure is rain. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on my covered-porch listening to and watching the rain. It is so peaceful and allows me to slow down and enjoy nature.
My favorite country pleasure is sitting on the porch watching the hummingbirds argue over who gets the next drink from the feeders. They make me laugh out loud.
There are several sounds I love to hear that bring back so many memories of when I was a young girl at my grandmother’s farm in East Texas. We would have to lay down in the afternoon and the windows would be open because there was no air conditioning. We could hear the trains coming through the woods, some times blowing their horns, the chickens clucking as they scratched the ground around the house outside the window, and on a really hot day when the heat melted the pine tree sap, the aroma filled the air. Today, my senses are still aroused and I get a feeling of butterflies in my stomach on hot days when I encounter the same smell of the pine trees, hearing the ghostly sound of a train echoing through the woods, or listening to chickens quietly clucking as if they are talking to each other.
A nightime wilderness sky , as the stars look like huge diamonds on black velvet. You feel as if you can reach up and touch them and they make you feel like a little girl again. The wonder of no city lights to pollute the night sky. It envelopes you , holds you tight and you feel safe
Peace!
Some of my favorite simple country pleasures are seasonal: the sound of cicadas singing in the trees in summer, sharing warm apple cider on crisp fall day in a pumpkin patch against the backdrop of changing leaves, the quiet, peaceful sound of a gentle, steady winter snowfall, and throwing the windows open on the first warm day of spring.
We lived at the “family home place” when my kids were young. We would ride up to the top of the hill to watch the sunset to finish our warm weather days. Chasing grass hoppers thru the tall grass and listening to the frogs in the nearby pond. When there was a meteor shower we laid out the sleeping bags and had thermoses of hot cocoa to watch the stars fall through the night. They remember picking grapes off the vines and eating them warmed by the sunshine. I remember them playing on the big round hay bales where the boys chased the dragons away from their princess sister. I miss the sounds of laughter coming in the open windows along with the breeze and sun light.
I love picking apples off the tree in the fall at U-Pick farms. Then I love to take home sacks full and make apple butter, apple pie, fresh applesauce, baked apples and eat them everyday in my lunch! Apple trees full of big beautiful apples make me so happy. The possibilities of what to do with them are endless and they are just the happiest harbinger of Fall.
I live outside Salt Lake City, so star gazing is a little difficult; but I try to spend time outdoors at night. I get home from work after 11 pm and fix me a plate to take to my patio. I have several fountains on and around the patio to drown out the city noise. Just finished a pita sandwich with avacado(store bought) with tomatoes and basil from my garden. I can smell my roses, herbs and petunias in their pots. This is summer in the “country” for me.
The silence of a snowfall.