Darby Rural

Many people have heard the rural life your way slogan and felt as though they may be left out of the true experience of rural life.  I say that rural life is a condition of the heart more than the location of your house.  I lived in a neighborhood in a little town for much of my life.  If you try the following ideas, you will sense the rural ideal growing and expanding in your heart.  You will also affect others.  Don’t hold back!

• Leave your garage door up until you go to bed.
• Don’t build a fence or at least don’t build a fence you can’t see over or through.
• Stand on the sidewalk to read the paper.
• Leave your front door open evenings & weekends (get a screen door)
• Put chairs on your front porch and use them.
• Call your neighbor for help setting up your swing set. 
• Help your neighbor set up his swing set.
• Water your lawn by hand (even if you have an automatic sprinkler system)
• Have the neighbor kids over to fish in your kiddie pool.
• Share bark dust with your neighbor.
• Take your neighbors trash can back up to the house on garbage day.
• Let your kids ride around the block without you.
• Stand on the sidewalk and talk to people who walk by – anybody.
• Drive around with your window down.   When you pull up to someone with their window down, ask them how they’re doing and then just look at them until they actually answer.
• If you see Alan Darby, ask him how old he is
• Take your son to the local tractor dealership and have him ask a salesman to tell him the important differences between two models.
• Go out side before you go to bed and just breath deeply for at least five minutes.  Enjoy a moment of peace under the sky.  Life is good.
• Take frequent, slow walks around the neighborhood and visit with people.
• Invite neighbors over for dinner, dessert or coffee. 
• Tell your neighbors how you are really doing.
• Don’t believe that your neighbors are just or only the people who live next to you.
• Play hide and seek outside
• Start a game of kickball in the street
• Don’t forget that your neighbors are all kinds of people…

Lester McCool