What I miss...

I love living where we do. I like the people, the slow pace, the open fields. There's no traffic - unless you get caught behind a combine or a tractor on the road. And if you do, that's ok, you just slow down and look around a little more... you'll get where you're going eventually. I like that a crowd at the grocery store means four people, and each one will give you a smile if you give one to them. And that the cashier will help carry out my bags if I have more than two. I like that I'm greeted by name when I go to the bank or the quilt shop or the grocery store.


I don't miss the heavy traffic, or the rude drivers, or the stop lights every couple blocks. I don't miss the crowds at the stores or at the bank. I don't miss the airplane noise. I know, not everyone in the city had to deal with that, but it's one of the things I don't miss.


But I do miss the forest preserves. Cook County Forest Preserves are just the best. We spent so much time there. Cheap entertainment when the kids were little. A walk in the woods was something we did a lot, any time of the year. In the winter, we'd sled sometimes and when the kids got older we'd cross country ski. We'd take our bikes, our binoculars, our cameras.


Then, of course, there were the horses. Rides to Maple Lake, to the meadow, down Country Lane, or just around the one-hour trail. And Fall was the best time for riding in the woods. The horseflies of August were gone (I swear, some of them were the size of hummingbirds.) The weather was cooler so the horses didn't get overheated. The trees were beautiful and the leaves underfoot had their own music.

So, aside from family, the forest preserve is what I miss.