Free Range Life In The Province

I’ve never been a city person. That doesn’t mean I don’t like cities; I do. Cities are amazing. Boston. New York. Dublin. London. Nairobi. Dar es Salaam. And even Iloilo City. These places offer opportunities and experiences and services that you can’t find anywhere else. But that doesn’t mean I want to live there.

In the province, the chickens and ducks are free range. In the province, the dogs are free range. In the province, the children are free range. And in the province, my mind is free range.

And when I say the chickens and ducks are free range, I mean they wander where and when they choose. Someday they will end up as dinner, but in the meantime they get to live fully as chickens and ducks. While they mostly stay pretty close to the house, I am often surprised to run across them in far reaches of the property. A few days after my in-laws brought the chickens from Barotac Viejo, two of them disappeared. The general consensus was that they had ended up in the dinner pot of one or another of the neighbors, which happens sometimes in the province. But some days later one of the neighbors was passing by and let us know that the chickens had been hanging out in their yard. So yeah, the chickens just went visiting and stayed with the neighbors for a week or so.

As for the kids, well, what better place is there to be a kid than out in the province, or, as we say in the West, out in the country? Since it is the summer school break, Edrian has been spending a great deal of time out in Dueñas with Mama Nec. Sometimes one or another of his cousins will be there as well, and their days are filled. There are trees to climb. There are bugs to hunt and capture. There are tadpoles in the old fish pond to be carefully studied. And there are the workmen building the water tower to be watched. And all of these things pull at their attention in rapid succession, such that no time can be wasted and they must move from one attraction to the next at a dead run.

For me, the property represents a lot. I expect it will be my last home. I look forward to building a peaceful, comfortable home where I can feel rooted and content. I love being there. When we drive out from the city, turn up the last dirt track to the property, and pull up and shut off the engine, I feel peace. I love working on the property and seeing the progress of improvement as we shape it to our vision. And I love that when I’m tired, or when I start feeling too hot to work, I am free to quit and go sit in the shade with a cold drink. But the best thing of all, the thing that makes me feel the most content and happy, is when I get to sit under a tree with Eden and we quietly talk about our plans and dreams for our future there. I’ve always preferred looking forward to looking back, and looking forward with a partner is best of all.