Imperfect Perfection

I’m always conscious of the sound of cars going by when I take my videos.  I always wish it wasn’t there.

But when I watched this video after taking it, I was surprised at everything else I could hear.  The sound of the sheep and donkeys pulling up the grass, birdsong, and Fate’s breathing as she ran behind me.

The reality is we live on a main road.

An old one that originally went from Manhattan to the Canadian border.  Now Route 22 begins in the Bronx (Old Post Road) and ends just shy of the border.  Part of Route 22 was originally Native American trails as so many of our roads were.

Once a dirt road it is now a two-lane rural road that is scenic to drive on. So we get lots of campers and motorcycles in the summer along with local traffic.

I like to think of Route 22 when it was a dirt road and how people would have welcomed seeing other people on horseback or in horsedrawn carriages and wagons.

Route 22 still has some advantages that we appreciate even if the traffic isn’t one of them.

Because it’s a county road it’s well plowed in the winter and early in the day. And since our house is close to the road (as many old houses are) it’s easy and inexpensive to plow.  We get cable and good internet service something that is important to our work and not always accessible in the country.  Also when our electricity goes out in a storm it gets worked on more quickly than if we lived on a back road.

I’m always trying to get around the noise of the cars going by, but I think I need to learn to accept the reality of it more.

Ours is not the secluded pristine farm and house.  It’s our home,  where we live and work, in all its imperfect perfection.

6 thoughts on “Imperfect Perfection

  1. As someone who lives in a rural are as well but on a main road from one town to another I understand what you are saying. We have a small woods between the house and the road which helps block traffic sound; no good internet and we are the lat house on the power line so it takes awhile to get the power back but the road is plowed quickly a well. I’ve learned to accept what I can’t change and try to concentrate on the positives – the songs of birds, braying of donkeys, mooing of cows and gorgeous views most of the time.

  2. Its a perfect zen conundrum. Would a stand of trees help or even be doable over time?

    In a rural area those are some big plusses.

    1. That’s what we’ve been doing since we moved in Elizabeth, planting trees around the house. And they are growing more quickly than I had imagined they would.

  3. I’m not quite sure what they call where I live, it’s not really a city or out in the country. Pueblo West originally was an equine community when it was established in 1964. We live on a dirt and gravel road which can make for a bunch of dust on a windy day. It’s broken into 1,2, and 3 acre parcels so neighbors a fairly close which is good in an emergency. We are on the outer north edge of the community so we are last on the list for repairs. But there are no street lights and the stars on a clear night still take my breath away even after 14 years as do the fields of blooming choya and sun cactus. I love our place, with all of its quirks it’s home!

    1. Oh I remember the night skies out west Josie. They are “bigger” than our skies if you know what I mean. A few night ago I was out early in the morning and there were so many stars it reminded me of being at Chaco Canyon, a place I will one day return to.

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