You know you live in the country when...

You hear shotgun blasts outside your house. Last night while surveying our yard, we heard a loud shotgun blast. Poor deer. Maybe the shooter missed. This morning, I heard three shotgun blasts about five minutes apart from one another. What, did the guy miss with the first two? Surely one shot would scare the deer away. I don't know. I have no problem with hunting, as long as it is done responsibly and the animals are respected. I'll be the first to admit I love deer meat (denizen), especially when Doris pan fries little denizen steaks for breakfast. Truly Wisconsin. I just don't want to know how/when/where the deer died, or what was done to make it edible. I just want it to be on my plate so I can pretend that's where it's always been.

Do we really live in the sticks? Well, kind of. We are only about 30 minutes drive from downtown Raleigh and only five minutes drive from downtown Fuquay-Varina (few-kwae vuh-reena). Where we live, however, has a distinctly rural feel. We live on an acre, and most of the homes in our development are on between one and two acres, so the community itself lends a rural feel. We aren't out of civilization by any means, but it is nice to know we live in an area where we can be in and enjoy nature, right in our own yard. The Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham... called the triangle because UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and Duke all create a triangle if you were to connect the dots) has a very different feel than anywhere I've lived before. It is heavily wooded and, even when in the middle of the city, you can't see that far. Trees hover over the area, so you always feel like you're in the sticks, even when you are in the heart of the city. It's very cool, but interesting to get used to. Without the compass in my mirror, I'd never know which way is north, south, east or west.