Country Girl

I'm thinking about moving to a farm.

With chickens, a goat, and of course, our 2 cats. We'd grow our own vegetables, pick fruit from the trees in our yard, send Baby out to gather eggs for breakfast and work in the farm on weekends. There would be a beautiful 4 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms, a large sunny kitchen and family room, and light streaming in the many, many windows on the farm. And a guest house for guests. We'd be far enough from the city that it would be quiet and feel pastoral. But, we'd be within an hour's drive of the action of the city.

The schools would be high quality, our neighbours would be nice, like-minded people with small children and the community would have potlucks and a local farmer's market.

I've said before that the lure of living in the city is waning. What's important to me in a home isn't being close to the action anymore. I don't mind if the 24 hour restaurants and 24 grocery stores aren't within walking distance. I want a yard. And good schools. And a good community.

I go back and forth in my head about whether moving to the "country" would really be something I'd enjoy. In theory, I love the idea of a pastoral paradise similar to the one I describe above. Then my fears creep in and I think about feeling isolated, facing homophobia, feeling unsafe (yes, I feel safer in the city) and not being able to make friends with my neighbours. Then I realize that all of those things could be true no matter where I live.

So, I'm not sure what to do. I believe we'll stay put for at least another year(ish) and then maybe look at some options more seriously. I do love our home, so, for now I'm going to stay focused on enjoying where we live now and making the most of it. I know I'll miss it one day.