Recently, I traveled 2 1/2 hours one way to see May Poppins on the semi big stage in Louisville Kentucky. I learned something. Something other than the fact that I absolutely love musicals. Yes, I discovered that, while I may have been born and raised in a metropolitan area with tall buildings, lots of traffic, and more people than humanly possible to count, two decades of living in rural America has ruined any chances of me ever returning to the big city on a full time basis.

I maneuvered the traffic just fine. Although, I did find that the over simulation of the people walking, the buildings looming overhead, and the seemingly randomly placed one way streets overwhelmed me at times. I managed to use the crosswalks like I owned them and I even managed to not gawk at the super tall buildings like I had never left the farm. However, the entire time my chest tightened, my pulse quickened, and all I could think of was my little peaceful slice of heaven on the Ridge. Earlier in that week, I looked around my home and mentally listed all the things wrong with it. The siding needs replaced, gravel needs to be brought in to soak up/cover up the muddy driveway, the porch needs boards replaced. The living room floor needs ripped up and replaced. Even the bathroom door knob, which keeps trapping me on the inside, needs repaired. After this trip to the city, none of it matters. 

When I come home each day and pull up to my little shack on the Ridge, perched  atop a mound of earth over looking the small valley where the natural spring babbles over limestone, I can breath in deeply and let myself relax... mind, body, and soul! I'm re-energized -  physically, mentally, and spiritually in more ways than even I had realized. Traveling to a place that I once would have considered a normal everyday existence after allowing myself to settle in to a slower paced life with less mechanical stimulus gave me such an appreciation for the life I have now. 

Oh sure, I love the fact that within an hour and half to three hours I can be back in the fast paced world that contains the culture I grew up with. On the other hand, I love that it's an hour and half to three hours away so that I can set on my rickety old porch with a hot cup of tea and enjoy the sounds and smells of nature uninterrupted by the machanical life that thrives in the city.I have grown to love my organic life here on the Ridge. It's kind of like getting home from a formal affair and getting to take your pantyhose off.

For the record, Mary Pippins was outstanding and I will, without a doubt, go back for more...as long add my place on the Ridge awaits my return.