A simple life

I have taken a 180 degree turn or is it a 360 degree turn in my life. I am back to the simple way of life. I enjoy the nature and appreciate the beautiful God given paradise. The first part of my life was to get away from the rural life that was considered to belenggu our lives then. With education, we broke the belenggu, got to live in the cities and join the the rate race. Got to live in a lifestyle which is considered to be modern and classy. Dine at fine restaurants, vacation in faraway lands that many still can only dream and move with the crowds that 'have made it'.
Now I am back living in the rural area living simply and close to nature. I can say i have had what I worked for and done whatever I wanted to do and now sit reminisce on that part of life. I made a choice when I decided to move over to rural USA. I did not figure out that rural here really means rural, like Pekan Sik in the 70's. However I have come to love this place that my husband and I worked hard to make it as beautiful as it is today (my opinion).
I have gone gaga when i discovered that perssimon (pisang kaki) grow wild, pecan just thrive everywhere, walnuts can just be picked up when it dropped on the ground, wild grape vines just climb whatever they can hang on to...but now i take advantage of all these nature abundance.
I learn to make jellie out of wild grape juice, wild plums, berries etc. I can assure you, one can never be hungry, if one is creative and innovative. I learn to pickle my summer vegetables and preserves the fruits. My pantry is now full of foodstuff that most time i give them away. I raise free range chicken for eggs and meat, my husband goes fishing when it is fishing time ( he loves fishing). My 3 deep freezers are full of chicken meat, fish and some frozen vegetables. Life is simple when we make it simple.
We cleared about 6 to 8 acres for yard and garden and left the rest grown with trees and wild flowers. I enjoy walking in my woods which changes with the season, different flowers, different bushes and different critters. We keep more than 30 big trees in our yard and grow fruit trees. 6 years I have been here and we have made improvements on our property and it looks now like a mini park. There are tracks and walking path in the property and big rocks to sit on in the woods, it has become like a recreation place for me and my dogs.
I thouht i could never get used to living in this kind of environment, but now I am finding it hard if and when I have to leave. The difference between my childhood rural experience, is that living in rural USA, we can still get all the modern facilities as compared to my chilhood. perhaps even now in my old kampong or very rural malaysia, we can get all these facilities too. We use well water from the bore hole with an electric pump that supplies our needs. We buy propane (gas) for our heating and cooking stored in 2 big 500 gallons tank, and we get our electricity from the rural coop. We are thinking of using solar panels when we can afford initial capital investment.
We want to live as close to nature as we could, but we still need to use the cities.