There's a natural rhythm to life in the country that I find reassuring. I just finished the last picking of peas in the garden this morning and the green beans are almost finished as well. Some of my grandchildren helped me sample the apples on the apple tree yesterday, but they were a little too green. The kids' pet ducks got the pleasure of eating the rest of the ones we tasted. It will be another week before they are ready to be picked and then we'll be making applesauce. Haying is pretty much over and the grain in the fields is starting to turn color. Harvest usually starts around my daughter's birthday in August, but it will be a little later this year because of the cool spring.
That's not to say that country living is boring or even predictable. I was walking across the yard last week and almost stepped on a little robin's nest that had fallen to the ground with one empty blue egg shell in it. My five-year-old grandson and I both hoped it happened because the birds didn't need it anymore.
In many ways we live at the mercy of the elements. Take last weekend for example. On Saturday evening, my oldest grandson burst into the house. He was outside with his uncle and grandpa, when they suddenly heard the overhead electrical lines start to hum and buzz. This was followed by a crack of lightening that hit right behind our Quonset. It took out the power and when it came back on it flickered and pulsed for several seconds before resuming full capacity. The rest of the evening and into the night we had an electric light show like no other and lost power three more times.
No matter what else is happening, the natural world right outside my door brings both consistency and excitement every day.
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