My Back Door Friends

Moving to the country has been an interesting experience on many levels.  Levels include in the winter just surviving the cold...the country is colder...having to brave the weather even for simple things like going to stores...they are a long distance away...and the costs of keeping up on things city people don't have to worry about like septic systems and water pumps is expensive.

I never thought about these when I moved here (Eaton) ....only about the idyllic settings, country scenery, and quiet.  (Well sort of quiet! Farm vehicles seem to have no mufflers!))

And so now 20 or so years later I can say...... I found that the country is made up of many things, but one thing is clear: people care about one another.  

Some say it is because they are all related, others say that it’s because the country folk are still untouched by modern city times.  For sure, many in the country are afraid of the city and its dangers.  I don’t know the answer, but the features that endear the country to me are the “people”, many of whom have now gone to the other side.

Neighbors came to the back door, friends just knocked and walk in. 

The relaxed atmosphere of the kitchen is where everyone gathers and still do, and in most of the older homes there is a woodstove that is all too inviting to leave the kitchen for another room.  Even in the summer somehow everyone congregates in the kitchen, coffee or tea offered with a bit of dessert that by afternoon becomes iced tea or lemonade or switchel  in the summer.  

So I etched the window of my back door to read, “ Back Door Friends Are Welcome Here!”  Out of that came a poem, my first in Eaton and now I have a full book of them...enjoy...

Back Door Friends

Back Door Friends are best,

They always know when to call;

Greeting you with a cheery “Hi!”

And “How did your day go?”

Dropping down in a fireside chair,

With enough time to sit and chat;

Telling you all about their day,

And discussing this or that.

Weather, gossip, or just a word of praise,

They always brighten up my day;

That’s why the sign on my door is clear,

“Back Door Friends Are Welcome Here!”