Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver

It has always been a half remembered dream to live out in the country or in a small town. I'm a city girl, born and raised, but there is something that takes over in my heart when I hit a gravel road, or see an expanse of prairie fields, and skies that go on forever.

We have friends who bought a home just south of the city last year, and they invited us to make use of some of their giant garden. So Dan headed out there in the spring and planted a few zucchinis, cucumbers, and potatoes. Some sweet peas made it out there by accident, so those went in the ground as well.

Last week, Kyle texted Dan and told us to come out and get our zucchinis because they were as big as his hand! So the three of us jumped in the van and made the trek south.

We quickly finished our small harvest and wandered the property while Dan chatted with his friend. Lucas walked around with me, but he wasn't feeling it. I remember feeling this pull to the prairies even as a child. What did I experience back then that was different? What have I seen and done to make me feel this way, when my son doesn't? What does he have in his life that makes him feel the same as the prairies makes me feel?

I feel this pull most strongly when we leave the city. There are a few places in the world that give me the feeling of peace and calm without even trying, but the prairies are much closer than the others, so I can get my fill more often.

But could I live out here? Away from the conveniences of my city life? One block from a bakery, grocery store, and our fave dive bar? Fifteen minutes to Mom or Dad? Or to anything else I might be missing?

But this is my one wild and precious life. One. Just this one. So isn't it worth a little sacrifice in one area to at least try it on for size?

Perhaps one day, I will have a view like this to call my own. Until then, I will graciously - and gratefully - accept the invitation to tend another's garden.

xo