[lightly toasted]

I spent the first 15 years of my life in rural Canada.

I remember dirt roads, and television via rabbit ears and a roof top antenna. No garbage pick up, it was either burnt or driven to the dump. Being genuinely snowed in ...some good things too- space to roam, the quiet was nice.

What do you remember of your rural childhood? Or tell me about your current rural life, it's ups and downs.

[Nammu]

Oh I remember the burning barrel! My dad had a English moped that I drove all over our property. I made an obstacle course on one side of our property and a straight path on the other and timed myself. Seeing how fast I could complete the circlet. Also had a pony and dog, wild cats, bunnies, a pond where tadpoles could be found in the spring time. There were farms around our property and the smells of dark rich soil being turned for planting season. Lots and lots of land to mow and rake tho!

[lightly toasted]

Wow! Those are some great memories, Nammu! Thanks for sharing

Yes, so much scope for the imagination (isn't that what Anne would say?) and so much room and freedom, but lots of work too for sure.

[WishfulThinker66]

I never grew up in rural circumstances but I did spend a year in a relatively isolated part of Vancouver Island. I rented a cottage on a hobby farm up the side of a mountain with a view of the ocean below. I four wheeled up and down an old logging road which was the quickest route up and down - including traversing a bridge which I had to line up my wheels with the two trees that comprised it over a ravine. I had electricity but had to hand pump water and chop firewood daily to keep the chill off. I loved that. Nothing so therapeutic as hacking away at wood. I collected eggs daily, milked the goats, and was allowed one bird a month from the farm of turkeys, geese, and chickens. The first time I killed a bird it nearly killed me but it got easier. It was part of life. I did a lot of menial tasks around the farm as part of my rent. I learned to love it. I ate from a year round garden, made my own bread, found field to plate meat producers, and bought seafood directly off the warf. It was a fabulous year and lifestyle. The only downside was the danger of cougars that prowled the area. You just know when you are being watched.

Growing up I didn't live in a rural community, but we had to use either rabbit ears or rooftop antenna because there was no such thing as cable yet! Now I live in a rural area, but we live in town so thankfully get trash pick up. One thing I love about this place is the wildlife that show up. We once had a moose in our front yard, a black bear up in a tree down the block. I'll never forget years ago when my boys came running inside calling "Mom, there's a bear outside!" then running out again with me trying to catch them, picturing it on our front lawn. Deer come through at night, raccoons, occasionally wild turkeys will show up during the day. They are so cool.

[eskielover]

I grew up in the So Calif San Fernando valley. (Not one of those "valley girls") Lockeed airport (now Hollywood/Burbank) was only a few blocks from my backyard). There were still desert fields along the runway approach to explore. Roof antennas were the norm because there was no cable. I even remember all the digging ditches that was done when they converted from septic tank to sewer. Sounds rustic but it was just city normal for the time I was born.

So when I was 6 or 7 we visited my dad's distant family on their farms in Nebraska. I NEVER wanted to go home after that. I realized that young that "farm living was the life for me" unfortunately I never achieved that dream until I was 54 & single.

Now I own a little 10 acre farm with 2 fields, woods on the back part that my home overlooks, an awesome runoff stream that runs into the creek at the back of my farm & I have a wet weather spring running out the side of the hill. With all the rain we have been having.....it's not going tovdry up any time soon.

I feed my woodsy raccoon families & possums & any other critters that wander around. Wild turkey very seldom here but they are all around just like the adorable foxes. Ton's of deer & I haven't heard the coyotes but they are always roaming around here. Tree frogs have given my tadpoles to care for few years ago. Think the raccoons enjoyed the eggs last year. I have snakes & even lizards have shown up inside my house & of course there are always the house mice that seem to find their way in when they are reafy to have spring babies. I try to catch & relocate far from my farm to they don't manage repeat visits. One spring these mice became very friendly. Even running around & playing during the day while I watched.

A live 10 minutes north of town. I choose to haul my own trash to the dump. Cost is not reasonable for the trash "just me"generates. All the brush I cut back I haul to the mulch area by the trash transfer station. I can't imagine ever moving out of the country. I could think of moving to a smaller house with fenced horse property. I don't have chickens yet (no secure place for them) & still don't have my horse here either.

Love the peace & quiet after my previous 54 years of life.....this feels like heaven & have wonderful farmers all around me. The farm across from me has over 8,000 acres throughout our county. Good thing is they graze cows in the field across from me.....there will be no subdividing done any time soon

City gal, rural now. I love the sound of the frogs singing while watching the sunset. I like that when a cow is in the road someone calls "Jim" or whoever to let them know their cow got out again. I love the farm smell. Not always pleasant but I lived down from the city dump in the past. Lol. I love seeing the stars at night and the sounds of nature. I love being away from the crowds and connecting with nature.

[eskielover]

I like that when a cow is in the road someone calls "Jim" or whoever to let them know their cow got out again.

Lol. I have learned to herd cows with my truck to keep them off the road while I wait so they don't get hurt. Around here people lease fields for their herds so along the country highways one doesn't actually know the owner of the cows. One night after midnight on a moonless night, driving home on the country highway I noticed a black cow on the street side of the fence. I herded it to keep it off the street while putting in a call to our local sheriff. I kept the cow off the road & guided it into the driveway to the gate & blocked it off with my truck while the sheriff cut the chain on the gate. Good teamwork.....we saved the cow. You just never know what kind of problems you will come across in the country

[Velvet Lounger]

I spent my childhood-to-teenage years at Mother's farmhouse in Saint-Émilion where she kept a vineyard, still commercial to this day. Recently we visited to stay a fortnight; it was like going back in time. I think we left our hearts there.

The hub of the farmhouse is the kitchen, akin to most peoples' homes, I guess. A broad 18th century kitchen oak table was where we ate, drank and made merry. So long it could easily sit 16, and our kitchen stove, the largest La Cornue still holds central position to this day. All the kitchen needs is a tandoor, and then French food would give way to Indian cuisine, much to my family's delight because they are always asking for a takeaway.

Homemade bread rolls are still served warm beneath a linen covered basket. We children would help ourselves not to croissants, but these delicious rolls, partly made from rye flour to give that extra crunch when biting into its jam soaked butteriness. Looking back 30 years, nothing has changed much. We love tradition and culture, and south-west France has it in bucketloads. I was born in the farmhouse, and the villagers most of whom have sadly passed since, turned up to celebrate my birth and make merry for another child to be born in our commune .

Outside the kitchen like back in London is a herb garden. Set aside on a raised bed fortressed by old railway sleepers, one could easily access the herbs without hurting one's back. Inside the kitchen off to one side was a door, and that led down steps to the farmhouse's cellar. Last time we stayed, our night times became blissfully quiet when one of our guests shot the cockerel. The next morning it ended up in the pot. That same day our neighbours rejoiced, bringing wicker baskets of fresh eggs, lemons and homemade fougasse, redolent of honey and figs.

Violette our neighbour and her husband look after the property while we are away. I hope to be visiting again soon, always being greeted and having a house full of guests taking delight in seeing their children running hogwild in the garden. We grow all our fruit and vegetables, save for obtaining honey at the local town market, and buying those enormous 'beef' tomatoes, red and very ripe towards the end of September.

For the most part I live in London, committed to a lovely job in a very grand property, but I pine for Saint-Émilion, hoping that if it were possible I could take early retirement and stay there permanently, writing books and enjoying the French way of life, little of which has changed in the last three decades. I dislike change; I think we probably all do. If I could disappear now taking my daughter and the remnant of our family, I would be a blissfully content woman. And not have a care in the world about technology.

[SlumberKitty]

I grew up in rural circumstances. We walked three miles to school. We got about three channels on our TV depending on the reception. We were the first family to get water delivered. We had a well. We had about nine acres of property that we rode bikes all over and built forts and dug holes. The isolation was both beautiful and haunting.

[greentires4me]

Even though it was rural BC where I lived for majority of my years we called it the boonies or the country.

We drove fast and soon as we got into the city because town wasn’t considered the city yet.
But Vancouver(City) we drove by the speed limit, we used our turn signal, we were polite and most of all we acted like we never been to the city before when we go see the Canucks play it was a treat.

Yes garbage was taken to the dump along with the recycling. There was no such thing as dsl only dial up. I remember just getting connected on dial up and someone went to make a phone call and unplugged me. Then the blue screen of death appeared.

There was only 6-9 channels we got on tv. We listened to lots of music, my dad would play with his band in the living room it was loud but enjoyable. I learned to love live concerts and only ever wanted to see my bands live for the real deal. Walked home from both elementary and high school alone. It was about 5km walk. We lived on acreage and had a nice view of the mountains. We had a septic tank...

Now I live in my home town still but it’s city of 86,000 ppl. I live right in town.

Down side? When you are craving fast food and it means a drive into the city. Lol.

[lightly toasted]

Originally Posted by ChaoticEnigma

Down side? When you are craving fast food and it means a drive into the city. Lol.

True! But so much more delicious when it was a rare treat you had to drive for.

Our only fast food choices in the local small town were fried chicken or submarine sandwiches. But what a treat, on a hot summer evening in our air condition-less old farm house.

I also remember a a strip of fly paper always hanging over the kitchen table in the summer. An assortment of dead or dying flies dangled above our heads while we ate supper

When I was 9 years old, my parents bought 18.5 acres of land on the very road they both grew up on. My dad still lives there, more than 30 years later, with my brother and my sister, and her family, on part of the land my parents gave them. My maternal grandparents had about 22 acres across the street, my paternal grandparents lived further down the road (they used to have 20 acres of pine forest, before selling the land). One of my paternal uncles, and his family, still lives next door to that land, and my maternal uncle lived further down from them on a bit of land with an apple orchard, that my great grandparents gave him.

Though there were/are some small fields, that environment is mostly wooded with some ponds. There are lots of wild animals and birds of all sorts. My dad had a pond dug, where he still raises various pond fish. Near the pond, he has a wood duck house. Wood ducks are beautiful! Of course other ducks and geese visit the pond, too, especially some times of the year. The pond, and several creeks that run through the land, also attract peeper frogs in the beginning of the summer, that make a wonderful sound. You also see lightening bugs galore, and hear the sounds of crickets and then cicada. I remember decades ago, lying in my grandparent's field, on a blanket with my first love, watching a meteor shower. There were no city lights nearby to obstruct the view.

My dad and brother had chickens and geese at times (bro still has a couple). For fun, they tapped several maple trees on the property and made homemade maple syrup. My mom once made homemade birch beer from the sap of a birch tree. There were/are sour cherry trees, elderberries, mulberries, wild wine berries, hazelnuts, and other goodies on the property. My dad has always had a large garden with various veggies. My dad used to go hunting for small game and deer on the property, or on adjacent properties. My brother raises honey bees on the land.

My family lives within walking-distance of an historic site. It's what we call "Washington's Rock" (part of Washington Crossing State Park). There George Washington stood looking across the Delaware River to see the progress of the British troops, on the Pennsylvania side, during the Revolutionary war. Only about 15 minutes drive further south on the river is the site of his famous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas day. That's just north of New Jersey's capital city, Trenton. Every year on Christmas day there is a major reenactment of that event, with real people dressed in period garb, literally crossing the river in period-style boats. Troops of actors march on the Pennsylvania side of the park.

Central New Jersey is a lovely area with lots of beautiful, and sometimes quite hilly, countryside and historic towns and sites of touristic interest. The scenic Delaware and Raritan Canal, in NJ, was dug long ago to connect Philadelphia with New York City. Most of the canal remains, but as a state park for walking/jogging/biking, nature watching, and canoeing. It's bucolic. There is a similar canal on the beautiful PA side of the Delaware river, too.

The areas I described are becoming more and more populated, but there is still lots of rural space left. I hope that remains the case. Many people don't realize what a wonderful state NJ is. It's quite diverse. Yes, with some highly urbanized and sub-urbanized areas (esp. near Philly & NYC), but plenty of countryside of various types (forested areas as described above, mountains in the north, pine barrens in the south, beautiful beaches and bays along much of the eastern coast, rivers, farms).

[lightly toasted]

Fantastic post, BirdDancer, thanks for sharing.

These responses have all been so great, guys. Thank you so much. I look forward to reading more, if it's not too much to ask.

[lightly toasted]

Originally Posted by greentires4me

Even though it was rural BC where I lived for majority of my years we called it the boonies or the country.

Ha, ha, us too...always the boonies, or the country, no one said rural back in the day. Although our address was Rural Route # _