Why did my husband and I deliberately transplant our family to the piney woods of East Texas? There are many reasons. When we previously existed in a cookie-cutter suburb of Dallas, the at-speed-limit rush of an ever-grasping culture drove the lifestyle we lived. All the while, our souls hungered for a place where we could stop and savor being alive.
Our move to the Longview area and subsequent settling in a farmhouse nestled on seventeen acres outside of Big Sandy brought us the satisfaction we desired. That was thirty-seven years ago.
We chose to live in East Texas because the stillness of our nights is now punctuated by a distant train whistle, not the wail of a speeding ambulance. Now, missing is that subliminal hum of a motorized society restlessly on the move, always chasing they knew not what. Instead, I'm lulled to sleep by the cooing of mourning doves.
Free from the anxieties imposed by a society striving to exceed itself, we take time to drink deeply of each day’s offering. We can pause to hear treetops rustle as the wind passes through, or smile at the raucous squawk of a noisy bluejay. We can sit on our front porch at night without fear of invisible dangers lurking in the blackness.
We don’t miss our former life. Our days are filled with soul-satisfying work and we are surrounded by people who take time to really care about each other here in East Texas
No comments:
Post a Comment