Vacation

We spent the last few days "vacationing" at my Dad's house, which is really a joke because his house is only 7 miles away, right in the middle of town. We just wanted to bask in the air conditioning and use his washing machine, since ours died a few days ago. I was hoping, by some rare stroke of good fortune, that I might be able to get some free wireless Internet from one of his more tech-savvy neighbors, but I was not granted such luck.

Towards the end of our two day stay, I started to get antsy and grumpy. I am not used to having so many people so close to me all the time. And I'm talking about a small town in rural Pennsylvania here, not New York City or anything. But the people, the kids, the neighbors right next door, the constant barking of dogs - these are things I don't have to deal with on our little homestead in the woods. Ella couldn't roam around on my Dad's porch like she does at home, so she was feeling grumpy too. And the dogs, they were longing to stretch their legs and get a good run on.

Yesterday we came back home, and everyone started to relax as soon as we pulled down our driveway. There was a cool morning breeze blowing, and the only sound was rustling leaves and chirping birds. As lonely as the rural life can be sometimes, I honestly don't think our family could live any other way.