Where Are The Clothes Lines & Roosters?

The other morning it was a beautiful spring day so I started the washing machine early so I could hang my sheets in the fresh breeze.Fresh Sheets While hanging out the sheets my 12-year-old rooster was crowing away.Rooster Then it hit me. This is something that is leaving our cultures. I am an American living in Belgium and I can say that Belgium is quite a bit more traditional than America these days in comparison. But even here you do not see many clothes hanging on the clothes line and when I am in America unless it is on a real back road I never see it.

I recently asked a friend who I know use to hang clothes out why she does not do it any more, she said it takes too much time. Hmmm, it took me all of 3 minutes to hang out my sheets, I was breathing fresh air, enjoy the sound of my rooster and my sheets will smell like the great outdoors when I put them back on my bed. I would say that is worth a minute or two. Not to mention the electricity I saved and how long my sheets will last from not being wore out in the dryer.

As far as the rooster goes, here in Belgium there are many chickens and roosters in people's yards. You can hear them all the time. But in the States, hardly ever, again unless you are in a real rural area. Belgium permits farm animals in residential areas as long as you have the room. I have seen donkeys, sheep, chickens, and an occasional cow on a regular size lot. They still seem to still hold on to the tradition of having these animals, also the reward of having fresh eggs in the morning. The American culture has all but given up on the traditional farm life. Everything comes from the store or Wal-Mart.

When I am in the States I miss the cozy feeling of a chickens, gardens, and clothes blowing in the wind.

So as long as I live here I will continue with hanging my clothes out, and feeding most of our leftovers that the dogs don't eat to the chickens and the rest goes in the compost pile for the garden. Remember when being self-sufficient was a necessity and not a fade?

So if the world of electricity and technology should come crashing down, I think I could survive ok, other than  writing this blog. I would really miss that.

The Country Road Is A Lifestyle

I am beginning  my blog on "taking the back roads" because that is where I find most of my joy. Living, working, traveling, hiking, exploring, relaxing, are all the things I usually do when I am  out in the country down a remote road of gravel, dirt or sand. My spirit lifts when I am here. It is just me and nature or I may have a companion like a dog, or horse along to keep me company but without breaking the silence that is such a part of why I am here. Just breathing in the warm breeze of that first spring day with the wind blowing ever so slight and smell of fresh grass from a new mowed hay-field fills the air  ahhhhhh this is where I come alive, this is where I feel free and inspired. This is where I am inspired to take photographs. There is more to taking the back roads than just taking photographs, it is a lifestyle. It is where I prefer to live and it enjoying all that comes from being away from the hectic life others live in cities. It is slower here, nothing needs to rush. Time just marches on without deadlines and meetings or shopping trips. It is just a place that is constant and alway available day after day enduring what ever the weather brings to its door step. Cold, snow, rain, ice, wind, heat, humidity, it is all the same to the road and the trees that grow on the side.

I have always enjoyed the people who live and work on these out-of-the-way back roads. They usually say what is on their minds in fewer words than most of us would have said at three. They see life for what it truly is and learned to live and grow with nature not against her. They provide the very things we all need first and usually are not interested in anything beyond that. They live simple, think simple,and stay simple. I find their silence addicting.

If you are someone who loves living on a back road, or someone who chooses to go there any chance you get, I invite you to follow my blog as I share with the stories and the photographs I take whenever I am down some country road or in a remote area. We are different from most, and we have a hard time understanding where the rest of the world is going, but as long as they keep our back roads alone everything  will be alright.