Rural living; was Re: New to the group

[Guest guest]

We are in Ohio and live in a rural area. When asked what major city

we live near, the answer is " we don't. "

I know what you mean about others not quite 'getting' your

lifestyle, we get that a lot. I mean really, when the clinic social

worker in Pittsburgh asks if anything stressful is going on in the

family, do I really want to explain my heartbreak over losing all

the chickens in a one-night massacre by a frenzied weazel?

When a doctor once told me that Levi's sputum culture had grown only

normal flora and " a bacteria that is usually only found in the

mouths of dogs, " I told him that we didn't have a dog at that time

(though I did not ask him the question that popped into my head -

could he have gotten that from the pigs???)

I do know that patients of clinics with the worst air quality

(Pittsburgh, Cleveland, etc.) tend to have better outcomes than

patients who don't go to cf clinics, I also know that the air in

cities stinks and the air around our cottage is sweet (much, much

sweeter now that the pigs are in the freezer and we've vowed to

never raise the filthy creatures again!)

I guess sweet, clean air is well worth the curious looks we get when

trying to explain that when Levi says that racoons like chicken and

possums like pizza, it's not because we read it in a story book or

saw it on a cartoon, it's because we stay up late and keep lots of

flashlights on hand to see what's come up onto the deck for

dinner.

~

> We live in CA on a ranch and sometimes doctors don't understand

our way of life. We were initially told that we should move closer

to cf center as air quality in our area would be bad due to

pesticides. Yeah right, like the bay area is such a joy to live

in. We live the rural life and would not change our lifesytle for

anything. You just have to learn to adapt.

>

> Best to all in new year.