Life In The Shire

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... The Rural Life...

Isaac and I have been taking our nightly walk again for the last few nights, after a lot of disruption in the schedule for a couple of weeks. He's bored with our old route, so we've been walking down our lane and out onto the highway, about two miles round trip. It's not a busy highway, so when a vehicle does approach, we hear it coming long before it arrives.

Many wheat plants are growing along the highway, sprouted from seed that fell last year from harvest-laden trucks. The wheat plants look much like their undomesticated grassy relatives, except for the great difference in the size of their seed heads.

A baby rabbit sat very still in front of a mailbox, hoping we didn't notice him. As we drew closer, he bounced away in a panic.

A little farther on, a bird flew out of the tall grass of the ditch with a great chatter and clatter. We agreed that she probably has a nest. I hope she doesn't get as excited about vehicles as about pedestrians, or she will never get her eggs hatched.

The air is fragrant with hay. Across the county, the first cutting is being taken. Yesterday, our neighbor was making big round bales in his field. Today, the bales have been moved, and cattle have been turned in. They will enjoy the tender new growth of grass.

This place is like the Shire of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. If this little community deep in the heartland was ever threatened, if the Black Riders were ever seen here, then we would know that the dark shadow of evil had grown very long indeed. Brave soldiers have fought terrible wars to preserve this place, but we've hardly noticed.

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