A lot of kids grow up in a town or city. Luckily for me though, I didn’t. I grew up in the country. I can’t even imagine any other place to live. I have always loved living in the country because it’s home to me.

Living in the country is having security. When I leave to go to school in the morning, I can leave without having to lock the door. If I need to go into town to pick something up, I can leave the garage doors open, house unlocked, and windows open. When I get back I know everything will be the same as it was when I left it. At night my family leaves the windows open and the door to our screened-in porch open. We never have to worry about theft or burglary.

Living in the country is living off your land. My family is always working in the garden. We plant all kinds of vegetation. corn, cabbage, and cucumbers are just a few of the plants we grow. Now that the corn is done, we have corn almost every night for supper. A lot of the stuff we grow in the garden, my mom cans as well. Our basement is full of canned goods. My favorite is the pickles my mom makes out of the cucumbers in our garden. We don’t just live off the garden though, my mom and dad also butcher chickens, pigs, and deer that my dad and I shoot in the winter. I don’t help too much with the butchering because I think it’s kind of gross. I’ll help eat it, but not butcher it.

Living in the country is hunting and fishing. We have our own pond, and I go fishing whenever I want. I usually go fishing on nice cool days, without much wind. That makes it more enjoyable. We don’t have the biggish fish in our pond, but I always have fun when I go. It’s time for me to get away, and forget all my problems and worries. It’s time to just relax. My dad and I also go hunting. We mostly just go deer hunting in winter, but in the fall we also like to go dove hunting. We also set traps in our fields to catch gophers that tear up our fields. I guess that could count as hunting as well.

Living in the country is doing chores. We have to do chores in the morning and night. The chores just consist of taking care of animals. In the morning we feed our bucket calf a bottle of calf replacement and some grain. In the evening we feed the calf more grain. We also feed the cats and dogs, and also feed our pig. Picking eggs is the last thing we do in the evenings.

Living in the country is watching storms on the front porch. In the summer on nice cool evenings, my family and I would sit on the front porch and watch thunderstorms. Something about watching rain and lightning relaxes me and calms me. We only do this when the weather is just right.

Living in the country is a lot of work. There’s always something that needs to be done when living in the country. It can be working in the garden or cutting musk thistle in the pasture. I also try and help my dad during harvest, taking him back and forth between fields or making water jugs for him. My sister and I’s least favorite job is cleaning out the chicken house. It’s the worst. It smells so bad and it burns my eyes and throat after a while, but it’s just another job that needs to be done.

Living in the country is my life. I’ve learned so much from all the work and fun that goes along with living in the country. It’s a way of life I always want to be a part of and hopefully always will. It’s where I’ve grown up, it’s where I live now, and it’s where I always hope to live. I wouldn’t have it any other way.