Lovin' that neighbor of mine!

I love living in the country. I think I have always been a farm girl, even though I was raised in a small town.

But I have to admit......... I hate the blowing, drifting, accumulating, piled-high snow! I don't want to go anywhere. I don't need to go anywhere. That doesn't matter. I still hate the stuff.

So it was wonderful when suddenly, this morning, I hear the movement of snow. Honey was at work. Chris (our shared-lane neighbor) was at work. I knew it had to be Mike.

Mike farms all around us on all sides. Its his corn that our male friends' insist on watering all summer. (Ya know what I mean!!! Seriously, I don't get it!!) Its his beans that draw the fireflies in June. Mike's grandparents built our house around 1892. His uncle built our neighbor's house in 1950. So I think he holds some sense of ownership --- so he will plow out our lane. You can see how it drifts in. (If you are looking at this picture,to the north of the fence, wonder what that is tan stuff in the field. It is corn. Never picked. Don't ask........ everyone has a crazy neighbor. That is ours.)

Mike doesn't take money for plowing us out. He will take a dozen eggs once in a while. He just does it cuz its the neighborly thing to do.

We set great store out here about being neighborly. Waving is an important act of respect. You may not know a person --but you always must wave. A line in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has stuck with me. I love this line! Think locally, act neighborly.

Think locally, act neighborly. In a world that has suddenly gone so very wrong -- what could be better??? Eat local food, buy local products, shop local stores ............... and be neighborly when you do it.

So, on a cold winter day in Iowa, think of me waving to my neighbors. Hey, Sheepie!!!!!!