Ocracoke Waves on Squarespace

Morning spider webI have always spent a fair amount of time outside. Perhaps it started with growing up in the fifties and sixties when kids lived outside.  Maybe it has something to do with the eleven years that we farmed in Canada.  Or it could be that I just like the out of doors.

Recently I have noticed an interesting tendency among people looking to buy property.  They want a santized out doors or at least one which has no downside.

I can only think this comes from people who have spent very little time outside their living rooms.

Having lived in places as diverse as Cape Carteret, NC and Halifax, Nova Scotia, I can tell you that you take what you get with the outside world.  It is always changing, but you cannot eliminate all the bugs or take the hot days out of summer.

I spent a fair amount of my spare time when we lived in Roanoke, Va battling poison ivy along a trail that I kept up in the woods on the mountain behind our home.  It almost became a crusade, but I kept the poison ivy at bay as long as I patrolled the trail regularly.  I have not be on the trail in a few years so I am certain that it is sneaking back.

My efforts no more eliminated poison ivy from the area than one can eliminate thunderstorms from summer.

Yet I believe we have a significant number of people among us who would sanitize the outside world if they could.

My legs are a testiment to the work that I have done outside in the south.  There are scratches, bites, and old wounds galore.  I always figured what did not kill me made me stronger.

I am not sure what part the little spiders that make nests in my centipede grass play in the grand scheme of things, but I certainly do not mind sharing my front yard with them.  Likely if they tried to invade my house, I would launch an attack, but right now that are just part of that outside world which I enjoy.

I chose to live outside and hope that the battles I pick with mother nature are ones that need to be fought even if only for a time.

I know some like the one against the blackflies in Canada are unwinnable.  I am happy to live in a spot on the coast where by some quirk of nature we do not have to fight mosquitoes.

I hope that those who want to enjoy the warmth of southern winter without the heat of a southern summer realize that the only way to do that is to move to New England for the summer.

If you want the south without its bugs and snakes, you might want to consider what you are asking and try to find a nice city to live in for now until you figure out your relationship with mother nature.

I for one will rather take the benefits like a perfect beach day or a day on the water with whatever challenges there are rather than give up the great times.