December 30, 2008

Outside Kitchen and Hard Work

outside-kitchen

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
~ Sam Ewing

Nothing like outdoor square footage to trip up the tax appraisers. This lovely, fully functional kitchen addition isn't taxable and doesn't come with a dish washer... unless you count the 12 year old little girl that used to live there before the rest of the house was built.

Yes - this was my kitchen in the year I was 12; complete with scorpions and tarantulas... and the odd raccoon or fox on a rare occasion. And then there was the cactus garden nearby that needed weeding every few months. And the outdoor bathroom (yurt) we had to use (you can better believe I lifted the seat on that toilet before I sat down to check for fuzzy creepies). And my tent needed tidying up before school (yes, I said TENT).

After the rest of our eclectic home was built and an indoor kitchen was hooked up, I continued to wash dishes the old fashioned way... but at least I could do it indoors.

I look back on my life in the Texas Hill Country and feel sorry for all those kids in suburbia who have never tasted real work... have never learned about nature from being up close to it and truly listening and watching... have never seen a silver fox making off with the trash in the fire pit... haven't heard a whippoorwill call in the evening...

I wouldn't have traded all those dishes I washed or weeds I pulled for an easy life in front of an XBox. Well, maybe at the time, it would have been tempting. A 12 year old does have her limits. However, I found in maturity that there's a satisfaction in nature and working hard that no amount of materialism and leisure can provide. It is the rare kid who learns it early on. It's all too common now days for kids to become adults without ever learning it at all.

I hope I can give my kids the same understanding - despite the fact that we do own an XBox (not mom's idea). They may hate me for chores today, but I know what kind of good the chores are doing on the inside. If only we could buy a small farm.


Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email

Buzz Words: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember growing up in the country (not like you though) :) & I loved it!!!

Sigh, I'd buy a 100 acre farm if I could, too!

Anonymous said...

That sounds so neat. Some days I would like to throw out our game systems and other days they are a God send.
Congrats on your new baby bee!

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

Yeah, I wish my kids loved the outdoors more. Sigh. I'm sad that they've missed out on a lot, imho.

Cool kitchen, btw. Minus all the creepy crawlies! LOL!! Misses the point, doesn't it? We just don't have so much of that here in Colorado! Fine by me.

A Gilmore Girls Fan said...

Beautiful outdoor kitchen area.

Happy (not-so) Wordless Wednesday. hehe

Anonymous said...

As an ex-real estate agent, I loved the comment about the appraiser!

Country Mouse, City Mouse said...

Your description was great - I could picture the story in my mind.

To the good ole days.

 

Disclosure

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links or sponsored links. I receive a small commission whenever a product is purchased through an affiliate link. Sponsored links are paid for by a company who wishes to improve their Google ranking, but I always check to make sure these are reputable sites and never allow any links that are questionable to be placed.

The links in my "Sweet Linkage" section are either sponsored links or personal links that I find interesting (including the links to the blogs that both of my teen children run).

I occasionally run ads on my blog in exchange for money or traded advertising, or receive products in exchange for a review or giveaway posts. I also participate in campaigns by brands that offer to pay me to write about their products after using them. Any post that is sponsored will be noted as such. All opinions expressed on Sprittibee.com are my own, and any review, give-away, sponsored post, graphic ad, or product that I mention or link to are ones that I believe are reputable and worthy companies.

Stats

blog design:

blog archives