We officially moved in to this house a week ago, although technically at this time last week the movers were probably just climbing into their trucks to head to our townhouse. By the time they wrapped everything up at the new house, night was falling and we were about to make our first two observations about how much different life is in the country. Specifically how dark it gets and the noise level.
We're roughly five miles from our townhouse here and I was surprised how much of a difference five miles can make. When it gets dark here, it gets fucking DARK. I think there's a streetlight about half a mile away. Otherwise the only lights come from the other houses, and there aren't that many of them. It is both very quiet and very noisy. When I can get my anxious mind to settle down, I can actually sleep through the night, which is unprecedented. If you listen really, really hard you can hear cars off in the distance, but the everyday neighborhood noises I grew up with are gone. There are few cars driving by, no neighbors on their deck making noises, no kids running and screaming while they play, no dogs barking, no trash truck with bad brakes squealing its way up and down each street. Well, actually, there are probably all of those things, it's just that we're so far back from the road. Instead the noise comes from nature. The crickets and cicadas in the woods are so loud at night you almost think they are massing for an attack.
There are a lot more bugs in general, which is going to require some adjusting on my part. I am not a fan of bugs, and there are some seriously large insects around these parts. The first day the biggest fly I had ever seen in my life got in the house. Big to the point where we were joking that it might not be a good idea to try to kill it because it was big enough to be carrying a gun. The other day I went out on the back porch to put out the recycling and when I turned back around, there was a grasshopper on the handle for the screen door. I waited him out and he hopped away after a long minute.
Our driveway is long and steep. The long I knew about, but the steep was harder to detect in a car. Hauling my ass up that driveway with Seamus every day should give me some nice hamstrings, but if it snows, there's no way my little Honda is going to make it up to the street. I find I don't mind the idea of being snowbound for a day in my snug little house. Speaking of walking Seamus, there are no sidewalks here, so everyone just walks in the street. There aren't many cars going by, so it seems pretty safe. I'll admit I'm a little worried about that.
Now obviously, five miles from where I used to live doesn't really put me in the country. I'm sure the residents of places like South Dakota and Idaho will scoff at me. I'm only a couple of miles outside of Frederick city, I'm less than an hour from DC and Baltimore, and there are multiple grocery stores and Thai restaurants 10 minutes away. It is a big change for me though, and so far I'm liking the country life. I had no idea what I was missing before.
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