By Jay Scott
The late John Denver recorded a hit song that included the opening words, "You fill up my senses like a night in the forest."
I recently had a similar experience in which my senses were filled with the sights, sounds, smells and feel of rural life.
Each year in I treat myself to a night of star-gazing as I watch for the annual Perseid meteor shower. This band of pieces from a busted comet is extremely visible each August. I wasn't sure I would be able to see it this year as the skies had been cloudy the week of Aug. 10. Wednesday, Aug. 12, however, I got my chance.
It's best to watch for the Perseid meteors after midnight when the night is at its darkest. Not wanting to cut into my beauty sleep, I slipped outside around 10:30 p.m. and parked myself on the back steps and out of the glare of the night light on the barn.
Within minutes the first of three meteors I would see whisked across the night sky from north to south. Two more followed a similar path in about a 15-minute time span.
As I sat there watching the sky, my senses began to detect a series of little things that can only be seen, smelled, heard and felt in the country.
The smell of freshly-cut hay filled my nose with the sweet odor of clover. A couple of coyotes yipped at the back of the neighbor's farm. My horse munched on grass just over the fence nearby. The wet dew on the grass I had mowed that evening soaked into my feet. The corn at the edge of my yard moved in the occasional breeze.
It was a poignant moment that served as a reminder of how fortunate I was to have been born into the farm life, and how much I enjoy living on a quiet, rural road.
In a previous job, I spent three weeks working in New York City. It was exciting to navigate for the first time the streets of Manhattan -- for about 20 minutes.
Two things about driving in New York City -- One, if there is room for your car's bumper, there is room for you to switch lanes. Two, taxi drivers honk not because traffic didn't move when the light turned green -- they honk because the light turned green. I think it's some sort of celebratory ritual. After 10 days of driving, I parked my rental car and began using the subway. That's another story for another time.
But I digress.
Since my time in the Big Apple, I have often thought about how New Yorkers never get to fill their senses with life in the country. Downtown among the skyscrapers the sun sets in the late afternoon. Traffic noise and smells are the main things to fill your senses while walking the streets of a city that never sleeps. Certainly, the Perseid meteor shower is not an option for them.
To those who would prefer that life, more power to you. As for me, life on the farm fills up my senses just fine.
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Jay Scott is an advertising representative for the RFD News. He lives and works on his family's farm in Crawford County. Scott is available for speaking engagements. Contact him at scotty@wavelinc.com.
