November 2025

Twelve Reasons to be Thankful for Rural Living

Get in the Thanksgiving spirit as Kentucky farmwife Catherine. S. Pond shares 12 reasons she's thankful for the benefits, bounty and beauty of rural life.

“Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home. All is safely gathered in, ‘ere the winter storms begin.” OK—Henry Alford (1844)

Autumn is the season in the year when country folks “gather in.”

Whether it is harvesting cash crops in a larger farm operation, enjoying the results of a bountiful garden or just preparing for the winter months ahead, it is both a time of abundance and a slow withdrawal into a less active winter.

The countryside in any season is a place to regroup and refresh on one’s own oasis — and in these times it seems to be an absolute necessity.

I especially welcome the inwardness and reflection that begins at this time of year. Part of that process is considering what I am blessed with here on the farm we have tended for the last 17 years.

So here, in no particular order, are twelve special reasons that I’m thankful for the country life we’ve built together as a family. Of course, there are many more reasons to be thankful here on our small but sufficient farm, but these are the first that come to mind in my own rural journey.

1. Country Neighbors (are the best neighbors!)

Here on our ridge, people help each other out. We’ve gradually been folded into a small community of neighbors and natives, not necessarily like-minded about everything, but willing to be here for each other.

You can’t live entirely self-sufficiently in the country because you always need someone nearby to help with something on the farm or to provide moral support.

We are also blessed to have our youngest son and his family living across the road. This assurance allows us to stay here on the farm as we age, and we can also help each other along the way, no matter what happens.

2. Ample Food and Storage

It is no small thing that the folks who survived the Great Depression without too much hardship also lived on farms. Each fall, we stock up on sale items or food we have preserved. It gives me a sense of order and comfort.

We raise our own beef, and we are lucky to have many small farmers in the area who provide a variety of local produce we don’t grow. In fact, it is so abundant and affordable in the growing season that my own garden is now mostly flowers and herbs.

But having your own land means that you can grow your own food, or raise your own meat or dairy products. And you can do all of this on a small holding if necessary.

3. The Observable and Changing Weather

"If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute,” is an oft-heard expression in almost every region of the country and with various attributions.

One distinct trait of country living is that you are constantly surrounded by changing weather, which you can fully experience with all your senses. You can see what’s coming and often watch it from a great distance.

Farmers, of course, rely on good weather, and following and predicting it is an art form. Observing the weather becomes a hobby for many, and the changing skies always bring something new.

Sometimes it is fierce and fantastic, and other times it is peaceful, but as long as you keep an eye out and prepare, you can ride out most any storm.

4. Quiet Solitude

The expression, “you can hear yourself think,” is quite literal in the country. There are times on our farm when I can’t hear anything: not even animals or birds.

Human-generated sounds are rare unless there’s a clamor going on in the farmyard or tractors in the field. As our ridge dead-ends into state-owned conservation land, fewer passing cars are seen.

As a writer and one who needs inward time, solitude is a great gift and privilege.

5. Birdsong Instead of City Clamor

I recently read a theory that the songs of different birds in a local ecosystem cause trees to open up and produce more oxygen.

Some say that playing music and talking to plants will make them more responsive. But birds and their chatter can also expand the human soul.

The other night, in the waning full moon, I heard several owls calling to each other in a copse of trees by the spring. I just breathed in the moment and considered myself blessed.

6. Remote Work is Possible

Just as the Rural Electrification Act of the 1930s brought power to small farms across the country, constant improvements in internet access have kept pace in most rural areas.

This enables many people to work from their homes for companies around the country. I was blessed to have such a job for seven years while being able to freelance for any outlet without leaving the farm.

In the past, country folks were connected to the world through targeted magazines and newspapers where one could write questions and commentary about their lives, especially for women. Now they can just get online.

7. Country Kids (are the best kids!)

Our boys spent half of their childhoods on our farm, and their work ethic was honed on tractors and herding cattle—and so much more.

Now they are hard-working men with families of their own — and way more responsible than I ever was at their age.

Of course, kids are wonderful wherever they live, but there is something special and resilient about children who are raised in the country. I am grateful for each of my children, and now for their families and the grandchildren in our lives.

8. Seeing the Stars — And Beyond

In the wee hours of November 1, in a bout of insomnia, I sat alone in our otherwise sleeping house.

All was quiet, all was still and from the corner of my eye I noticed a strange and increasing light cast over the west side of our house. It was the setting waxing gibbous moon, about to reach its fullest supermoon capacity of the year in a few more days.

Incredibly large as it hovered over the horizon, I was in awe of its size and beauty. I rarely see a moon set in the small hours of the morning, and it was both a solitary and unexpected gift.

From your own country property, you can also stare into the depths of the universe, or see the rare flicker of the Northern Lights overhead without competition from city or suburban light sources. The heavens are a vast and mysterious miracle that keeps a mere speck of a human like me in balance — and a state of wonderment.

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9. Being So Close, and Yet So Far

Many rural areas are within two hours or less of suburban or urban amenities. We are lucky to live on a ridge the size of Manhattan with maybe no more than 250 residents. So we don’t get any through traffic.

But our ridge is also off of a state highway that exits onto a parkway a few miles away that can take us anywhere we need to be. We will venture to “the big city” a few times a year for appointments or a needed cultural and shopping infusion.

Otherwise, we are only thirty minutes from our county seat, where we do most of our business and shopping.

As a remote worker with children no longer at home, sometimes I only leave the ridge about twice a month, and I am perfectly fine with that reality!

10. Living More Frugally and With Intention

Despite the ease and ability to receive big box store items delivered to our porch, it is possible to live more simply and frugally on our farm. This is partly because we can raise our own food or get it locally.

Also, we do not have the same distractions that those in the city have in terms of entertainment and dining options. These are rare treats for us because of budget and logistics.

11. Room For a Garden

Victory Gardens were a popular effort during World War II and gardening as a necessity — or pastime — has made a comeback in recent years. Those with even a small bit of land can raise their own food, whether on their property or in a shared urban setting.

While I’m not the gardener my mother and grandparents were, I have learned through trial and error which plants seem to grow well for me and which are just easier and more economical to buy locally in season.

This summer, my son built me four raised beds that we can see from our porch, kitchen and sitting room — and my office window.

I filled them with herbs and flowers, and they have brought us great joy. As most were pollinator-friendly, we have also enjoyed an abundance of bees and butterflies.

12. Porch Dwelling — and Windows Open Wide to the World

Porch sitting is an art form, in the South especially, it seems, and some of our greatest conversations have been while on our porch chairs overlooking the farm.

We are fortunate to have a good porch season for at least six months of the year—from early spring to mid-autumn. And for about four months a year, we can have our heating and cooling system completely shut off, with windows open wide.

Above all, every day that I wake up and look out across our land, I am incredibly grateful for all of it. No matter what may be happening in the world or in our personal lives, our farm provides solace, respite, and the ability to care for ourselves—and our neighbors—as best we can.

And life— no matter where you live—doesn’t get much better than that!