Silence, Not Solitude

"Silence, not solitude."  I read that somewhere and it stuck with me.  What a wonderful thing to strive for!  Our suburban lives are definitely not silent.  Granted, I don't believe anything is truly silent unless you perhaps seal yourself in a bubble, which I am not recommending here.  When I considered the idea of silence, it seems to me it would be turning off the electrical background noises and listening to the natural sounds around us - wind blowing through the trees, birds calling, the sound of footfalls in the snow.

I turned the radio off in my car today for my drive this morning.  As I dropped my daughter at school I could clearly hear her conversation and she commented about the sounds the tires made as I drove over the snow.  I thought, "This is what I'm missing!"  My drive into work was also different.  I tires plowed through the wet slushy snow.  I could hear the heater since it was quite cold this morning.  But these sounds became soothing as they were so repetitive.  I felt I was paying way more attention to my driving and had so much time to just think it was nearly scary!

In light of this experiment, I've determined the radio is inconsequential to my life.  I do not need to hear the songs on the radio, if I need music I can happily sing or hum a tune of my own inclination.  I definitely won't miss the advertisements or news.

Green Pasture vs. Suburban Sidewalks

Happy New Year!

Well, for a while now it has been on my heart to leave the rat race of suburban life and go live on a farm.  You know, be subsistent, grow and raise our own food, be one with the land!  The Amish way of life always hits me as so pure and content.  I realize that their culture also has some very strict religious aspects, and I'm not saying I understand 100% or would like to join up.  But the idea of agrarian life seems pretty great. 

Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As I sat and pondered my farm wishes today.  I started to wonder how farmers feel.  Are they happy where they are?  Do they wish they could live where I am instead?  Do they wonder what our days are like here in suburbia?  I have been reading and reading about farm life.  There are some great sources for this stuff that explain some details to fill the head of silly people like myself...books by Helen and Scott Nearing and Gene Logsdon have been my latest finds.  A search for "farm life" on Amazon finds 8,261 book hits.  A search for "suburban life" on Amazon finds 582 book hits.  I realize this must have required some odd chronicaling on the part of the authors.  Granted this is information I want to know... How much wood do you burn a day?  Do you use electricity?  What are the foods you like to cook?  How much snow did you get last December?  All the day to day details an anthropologist would long for.  Anyway, I've decided to try to chronicle our suburban life.  I'm not sure that anyone will find it interesting, but then the farmers who write about their lives may be thinking the exact same thing!  From time to time I'll post a selection here...don't need to disclose EVERYTHING :).  I do still like to craft and I do still like to dream about one day being on a farm with livestock and crops and a cozy stove to warm our home, but for now I aim to be content with what I have.  I am blessed with a wonderful and loving family and the backdrop for family must be of minimal importance, though I'm sure you'll see that I believe it has an effect on the family!