Personal Great Migration

Ron and I have decided to sell our country house and move closer to town. After 17 years of country living, we admit we are not young and vigorous enough for this lifestyle. Our day yesterday is a perfect illustration. First thing in the morning Sudi (our teenager) stepped into the bathroom to take his shower and discovered our cats chasing a live mouse up and down the towel rack. They never caught it. It’s hiding in the molding somewhere. I do not do rodents. They make me scream and jump on furniture. They turn me into a cartoon involving the letters E-E-K. Then, for most of the day Ron froze his ass off because a) we heat with a wood stove, b) we are having a very cold winter, and c) he is diabetic with low thyroid so his body is about one ice cube away from a mint julep when it comes to retaining heat. In the evening, just as we sat down to dinner, the power went out because of storm conditions (according to the recorded message at Pacific Gas & Electric – duh) and plunged us into pitch darkness. Sudi walked into the pantry door trying to find a flashlight. When he hollered, I thought he had stepped on the mouse. I spent the rest of the evening watching my husband and son shiver in rhythm to the wail of the back-up generator. I do confess that there are (and always will be) a million things I love about country living. For instance, this time of year the frogs are mating and they make such a happy sound you would think every one of them is about to turn into a prince or princess. But there are many things about country living that I will not miss. Our days in the country are numbered. Trust me, you will be hearing more on this blog about our personal great migration from country living to a home in town.