Acceptance: Being Dirty Is Part Of Countryside Living
I have happily traded in heels for rainboots caked in mud.
At 7:45, the puppy walks over and gently nudges me. It is time for her first walk. The day has begun.
As I open the door, I am hit by a cool blast of air. After I took my attention off puppy number 2, I realized we were in a cloud forest.
My pup’s fluff is glistening as the cloud passes above us. The mist touches my face as a gentle reminder that today might be the day to return to bed.
Again, the dogs are reminded that they must do their business. I look at my bucket of clothes that need washing and have been sitting in soapy water since last night.
Today will not be a day for laundry; maybe tomorrow. The dogs run around and finally allow me to leash them, which is always a morning struggle since they prefer to roam free.
Baki, the husky mix, lost his off-leash privileges when he ran through the fields and would not come when called. The other is that she is off-leash; the walk would go faster if she were on leash.
Do you know the phrase slower than molasses in January? That’s her. Yet she was the one who woke me this morning for her walk.
Once they are ready, we head up the road. On a misty, wet morning, we make it fast. They do their business, and we are back in the house in time for the bucket of rain that comes as soon as we are inside.
Baki lays outside in the rain and mud.
We romanticize living in the country, especially me. I dreamed about living in the Colombian countryside for years before it became a reality. One thing I didn’t fantasize about is that I would never be clean again.
I will be clean immediately after a shower, for about 10 minutes. The rains bring mud and muddy paws. They are indoor and outdoor dogs, and I have accepted that I can sweep every hour, but it will still be dusty and dirty.
Clothes waiting to be washed will be stained with the red dirt in the yard. My sweater is full of dog hair and now burrs from the garden.
My rainboots were caked in mud. The mud falls off when it dries, leaving another mess to be swept up.
Acceptance.
Dirt is part of living in the countryside. It is not specific to Colombia, but I see it as part of living there.
I lived in the city for years and never worried about staining my clothing unless I spilled red sauce. I remember when I could walk on the pavement every day and never touch a blade of grass or step in mud.
Now, my life revolves around not staining at least one outfit to wear into the city.
Most days are spent working in the garden. Moving into a new home that needs much work is exciting and overwhelming. I aim to produce almost all my food, which means gardening in the dirt.
I spend 80% of my time in the dirt, playing with compost and using my machete to clear space for chickens and gardens.
Not today.
It is wet and cold. Baki walked in the door damp and covered in mud and lay on his bed. He gets lonely outside by himself.
I have accepted that living in the countryside comes with more advantages than I can list, even if my house is never clean.
The dogs are happy and dirty. I would not change clean city clothes for my beat-up jeans stained with red dirt from the garden.
XOXO
S
A nice earthy story, ha ha. I occasionally marvel at how much of our time we spend removing dirt. From ourselves, from our house, our dogs, our car, our everything! We have two dogs, one that rarely stinks, and then there’s the pug! One of our nicknames for him is stinky. And another name we have for him is “dirt dirt“. Not only does he roll in dirt, but he eats it too. You can see a picture of him in my latest post. Thanks for another great article.
Haha, I always forget the mud and dirt part of being in nature... bugs too.