Am I in the country?

My first evening sitting on the porch swing at The House of Goodwill, I could hear cows mooing in the distance.  I have no idea where the farm is, and didn’t even realize there was one nearby.

But it made me realize – this is what my life has been missing.

Mooing cows make me happy.

Around the lake at The House of Goodwill, the roads are paved.  They may not be perfect (at all), but they are paved.  So is this the country?

And because it’s a lake, in a state without a lot of them, every lot around the lake appears to be claimed with a house.  All the houses seem to have at least a couple of acres of land.  So is it still the country without any wide open spaces?

On the other hand, it takes at least 20 minutes to get to the nearest grocery store.

When I went to walk my dogs, I discovered apparently they are the only dogs in the area on the end of a leash.  We must have met at least 5 loose dogs on our first walk.

Fortunately, the dogs so far were all as nice and friendly as the people in the community.   

In just a few days there, I have seen deer, ducks, herons, a couple of cats and a golden retriever wandering through our yard.

Walking my dogs down the road with my son, seeing the lake around every corner, being waved at by a golf cart full of girls in their swim suits cruising around, smelling the flowers in the air and listening to the cows moo was so relaxing, so peace-inducing.

As my husband and I continue to work on this house, we occasionally look at each other and ask, “why are going to rent out this place again?”  And then the other replies, “I don’t want to.”