A Country Kind of Day

My first few years in rural Nova Scotia were idyllic. As I settled in to a new house and a new neighbourhood, and spent some time substitute teaching throughout the school year, I had lots of time for reading and writing, gardening, raising chickens, walking and exploring.
Idyllic.
After six years, those slow, peaceful, book-filled days seem like distant memories. Most of the writing I do these days are for the columns in the newspaper and most of the exploring I do is on the Internet. Shame, shame!
It's a great lesson in "be careful what you wish for"! because I wanted to write full-time...I just forgot to add, "at home" where I could keep reading and gardening and walking. So between writing 140-character tweets, posting short essays on Facebook, and creating my presentation for the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia's conference in two weeks (two weeks! wow), I've been too busy for creative writing.
Sometimes I feel like something is missing from my life, something important, something fundamental. Like my writing hand has been cut off or the creative part of my brain has shut down. It's a spooky feeling. It's a lonely feeling.
But autumn has a way of drawing me out of the office, out of my mind (so to speak). Being on the back of the bike, riding through the woods, hanging out at the Ducks Unlimited duck pond has a way of relaxing the brain and body and reminding me of what I love so much about living in the country. And living with a Nova Scotia country boy.
Breathing space. Creative space.
October in rural Nova Scotia is good for the soul.