Small (and not so small) changes

I realize that, in part, I am feeling more than a little daunted by the scale of change taking place in my life. In order to "small" things down, I thought I'd write a list of as many of the little ones as I can possibly think of. The theory is that doing this will help me work my way up to the biggees! Some of these are firsts, not just changes:

1. My dog had his testicles removed. It was a sad day and I believe both of us are still in mourning. In retrospect, I think it's an act of barbarism. I wish I hadn't inflicted this on him.

2. In the glare of my headlamps, as I pulled into my yard last night, stood two large stags, frozen like statues on my back pasture, huge, majestic and magical. This is as close as I've ever come to deer in my life. I didn't breathe for about 30 seconds after they bounded away.

3. I made my first ever sweet potato soup.

4. I'm learning to live with a septic tank. There are rules, folks, there are rules!

5. I'm surprised to find that I do not mind sharing my house with little brown fieldmice.

6. I have a new friend who is 85 years old and male.

7. I met him in the church I've begun attending. (Yeah, I know I'm an atheist, but when you live in a small community you go where the community is. Nearly everybody I know there, including my new 85 year old buddy, are atheists. My other new friend, a heterosexual married woman, is Jewish and Pagan. It's been an eye-opening experience.)

8. I'm not enjoying driving long distances into the Big Smoke and back each week. Commuting is the pits.(Normally I look for any reason to drive - anywhere!)

9. When I'm "home on the range" I often go three days without showering.

10. I'm spending long hours bird watching. I can now tell a Hairy Downy woodpecker from a Downy woodpecker (and even know which are males and which are females!)

11. Living rurally, I forget to check my telephone messages when I get home. I don't know why this is. My theory is that I feel more connected to my community, and look less externally for connection.

12. Nearly all the vegetables I buy are now locally grown.

13. My eggs now come straight from the chicken - often they are still warm.

14. I'm considering buying a goat. (These are not words I ever thought I'd type, unless they were part of a body of fiction.)

15. I can look contentedly at a field for hours.

16. I collect my mail from a mail box at the end of the long driveway, on the other side of the main road. Okay, I hear you all mocking me! But this is a big deal for a Brit. I feel like I'm in a movie every afternoon when I walk out to collect my mail! (And no, it's not "Deliverance.")

17. I never want to leave my farmhouse.

18. I own a barn.

19. I bought a huge satellite dish for my internet connection. (Again, "I own a 4 foot wide satellite dish" are not words I ever expected to write.)

20. I nearly ran over a turkey two weeks ago.