I'm not your typical rural woman.
I grew up amidst my grandfather's fields, sitting on his armrest in his combine, learning how to chew wheat until it turned into gum, and riding shotgun in the dump trucks he'd been driving since he could drive. To this day, the smell of rat poison brings me back to those bumpy rides to the elevator.
I grew up playing in the deep ditches of Northwest Ohio looking for quartz and old bottles, walking in the muddy fields with my brother to see how big of a mud "clodhopper" we could get to stick to our shoes, and seeing how many times around the barn we could unravel a cassette tape.
Though, throughout my childhood and adolescence, I felt a hunger for different scenery.
College gave me my first taste of city life. I wouldn't call Bowling Green, Ohio a large city, but it was city enough for me. Food, stores and bars within walking distance. Always somewhere to go and people to see...it was thrilling. For once in my life, I found a place where I fit it. There were other people who dressed like me, thought like me, and believed what I did. It was during this time, I met my husband. He is a musician and we met during one of his gigs at a local bar. After I graduated, we got married and moved to a woods in Central Ohio.
I have the confidence now to enjoy -not- blending in with my surroundings. I love everything rural-living has to offer: friendly neighbors, bonfires, yard work, the scenery my 13 acres of woods provides for photography, and a garage of my very own! Besides, who wants to blend in anyway? Here, I stick out like a sore thumb with my skinny jeans, vintage hats and geek glasses. Maybe even more if I ever teach my cat to walk on a leash.
