Teaching out in the Country

I haven't blogged about my country life in a while, but two things happened the past couple of days that I just had to share.

First, I took my class on a field trip yesterday. On the way back to school, our school bus driver slowed down a little and called out to the kids, "Look, there are a few deer on the other side of the highway". As soon as the kids saw them, one piped up, "Cool, let's shoot them!" Only country kids.

Then today our principal came on the speaker system and announced that we would be staying in for the lunch recess. The reason? There was a bear spotted just down the road near the school. That would be my first indoor recess for bears.
 

City Life vs. Country Life - the people you know

When my husband first came out for his interview and tour of our future home last spring, he laughed as he said, "It'll be different, that's for sure". He then proceeded to tell me of his tour of the area during which one of his guides said, "Oh there's Mary, yep, she goes to work this time of day." And we laughed at the small-town-ness of such a statement. Well, last week we were driving home and Jonathan said, "Oh look, David's home, watching TV" - and I looked at him and laughed and said, "You are turning into one of them" I don't think we're in Toronto anymore :)

Storm Day in the country - City Life vs. Country Life

Yes it is November 23rd and yes we are having our first storm day/snow day of the year. Last year in the city my son went to school on almost every day it snowed. There was one exception and it was a particularly bad snowstorm. Even for that the teachers declared was a very rare occurrence as school had never been cancelled during many of their careers. Out where we live now most schools are busing dependent. The transportation department likes to keep it safe for the kids, so if it's bad, we stay in. There was no snow on the ground when I was first up at just before 6, but the storm alert was there and sure enough the school cancellation memo was up on the district website at 5:57. Snow started falling at 7. And I'm glad I didn't have to commute in today. It's pretty much a white out right now. Earlier in the day, my boys took advantage of the snow, our large, hilly backyard and their new sleds and had a blast. Once they were finished and sipping hot chocolate inside, I put their sleds back into the shed. Looking across the street I saw the ATV crew out and about, slip sliding around on the main streets. That's a sight you would never see in the city. ATV's are really big out here. There's lots of trails nearby and it's a real community thing. I just hope they are careful and back inside now that the storm has gotten bad.  Here's a bit of our morning:

                                             My daughter, enjoying the warmth of inside.

                                                        My oldest, showing off his new sled

                                                          My other son doing the same

                                                                    Down the hill

                                                                 So much fun!

City Life vs. Country Life - Police Work

I've been living in the country for just over 2 months now and I've been through 2 roadside checks - one for seatbelts and one for up to date car inspection stickers. My husband has also seen them policing a certain stop sign, ensuring that people make a full and complete stop there. We've seen several speed traps as well. I would venture to say that we are more than adequately policed for traffic safety. I'm also guessing that there isn't much else to police around here. Sure, there's your once in a while domestic dispute but for the most part, I think it's safe to say we're pretty safe out here. In our 2 years in the big bad city, I remember one road side check (looking for drunk drivers on a long weekend). But let's face it, the police out there are too busy with gun shots, drug busts and general ruckus to worry about making sure everyone makes a full and complete stop at a stop sign.

City Life vs. Country Life - one more about the commute

This is the last post about my commute for a while. I know, I think about it too much, but I'm driving in it 3 days a week. So I was telling you all about the bizarre big line in the morning that stretches for 2 or 3 kms before you have to merge, leaving a big empty highway lane beside it. What I have discovered is the line up police are in stronger force than originally perceived. And they are dangerous. They see someone barreling down that empty lane and they just pull out, no signal, not caring that that car may in fact hit them and almost causing an accident, which would make them later than they wanted to be in the first place. So I decided to try waiting in this bizarre line this week, just to see how much of a difference it would make on my day. It's not bad. It does make it a little slower, but it does ease my frustration at these line up police guys. I really just don't want to get into a car accident in the morning. As I've been in this line, I have noticed that I'm not the only one wishing to buck the trend and take the empty highway lane. There's quite a few of them really. And I silently cheer them on! Good for you! Go for it! One morning this week I got behind a line up police and it was so frustrating. Because here's the thing. Here you are in the line up lane and here they are, half in the line up lane and half in the free lane. And really as they edge closer and closer to the free lane (still going line up speed) it becomes confusing because there actually is enough room for you to pull ahead and knock them out completely, but you really don't know how they will handle it. I mean this isn't the LA Expressway. There isn't that level of road rage here, but these guys are unpredictable. Will they knick your car, trying to reclaim their spot? Because that's a hassle I don't want to have either. And that's frustrating. Here they are, these line up police who are driving totally righteously and totally dangerously controlling everything. I don't like it.

City Life vs. Country Life - Hunting Season

Yesterday, I got to work and one of my colleagues was saying that she hoped she didn't miss it by being on a field trip that morning. Miss What? I wondered. Well, apparently, Moose Season just opened and quite often if someone bags a moose, they will bring it by the school for the kids to see. After work, I picked up my two youngest kids. I had to stop by the store on the way home to get some milk. (The store really is THE store, it's the gas station/pizza place/video store/liquor store/convenience store). As I pulled in, I saw a crowd around a pick up truck and I knew. I said to my 4 year old, "Do you want to see a moose?" "A moose?" "Yep, a dead moose is in that truck honey" "What?" "It's hunting season and that hunter got a moose" He was quite fascinated with the idea of it. And it really is quite something to see. The admiration of the crowd. The pride on the hunter's face. It's all part of living in the country. Someone's eatin' BBQ tonight.

My Commute

The other morning Jonathan had to come into town with me. So I took advantage of it and took a few pictures with my iPhone for you all to see how pretty it is out here.

City Life Vs. Country Life - Traffic on the Bridge

So the bridge into town is under maintenance. So instead of 2 lanes going in both directions, they are down to one. The funny thing is (and please explain to me why if you know the answer) is that people start lining up into one lane way before it's necessary. I mean like 2 or 3 KM early. I don't get it. I've never seen this before ever. You would never see this in a big city. I've driven in Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and New York, no one does this. Everyone waits until the last possible moment to merge. I've never seen 2 KM of free open highway before a merge before. So I don't merge in early. I don't see the point. And really, what are people going to do about it. Yes you can all glare at me all you want (I know you are), but I'm driving in an open legal lane! There's no rule saying I have to line up nicely and really early all because you do. Now, I haven't gone completely big city driver snob here, I don't wait until the last possible merge moment (although I could), but I wait until I'm under a KM away. I just can't justify merging in 2 or 3 KM early and adding in 10-15 minutes to my commute.
Actually, yesterday, one guy did decide he was going to be the line up police, and pull out in front of me just to block me. He didn't quite go all the way into my lane and out of his. He was in both lanes (which is really illegal) and driving the snail pace of the line up. I just had to laugh at him. What was his point? Nothing, except being uptight about his line up. Get over it buddy! So I just followed him to see what he would do. I hope he enjoyed his moment. I know I enjoyed my morning giggle at him.

City Life Vs. Country Life - the commute

We recently moved from a city of 2 million to a country village of 600. It's near a small city of about 120 000. I commute into work 3 days a week. It takes me about 20 minutes to half an hour to get there. Many, many people have commented, "How do you like that commute, being way out there where you are?" Honestly, I love it. It's 20 minutes of free, empty highway driving, followed by 10 minutes of relatively empty city driving. It's not a big deal.
In our previous place it took me 20 minutes of bumper to bumper city traffic to get to Wal-mart on a regular basis. Then you fought your way through crowded isles to get what you needed. I actually found it easier to jump onto the highway, drive 20 or 30 minutes north to a smaller suburb to go shopping.
Here's the highway near where I used to live:

And here's where I commute into now:

So yes, I don't mind the commute at all.