Bibb Bridge Wetumpka Alabama

About 7 years ago I was living in Belgium and was planning my return to the United States. My husband and I were at the time looking for a home BEFORE we returned so we could be ready. We had a few options we were looking at and thanks to the Internet we began searching for places we would like to move to.

In our search we came across this beautiful little town with an “old-timey” bridge running over a river. Both of us agreed that, “wouldn’t it be great to live in a place like that!” (Of course never believing it could happen) But that town with that bridge is exactly where I have been living for the past 7 years and not in town “proper” but about 10 miles out of town in a wooded area.

I am a morning person, every morning I take a walk. I usually hear cars way off in the distance. This morning was a rarity for me. I actually saw a passenger plane flying overhead. Every morning I see birds and rabbits and sometimes deer. But today was a red letter day! As I took my pooch out with me to get the morning paper at about 5:15 a.m. it was just getting light and it was very cool and still. It felt so good because we have been having blistering heat here for over two weeks. And mornings like this it is not unusual to wake up to close to 80 degrees at dawn. Today is only 64 degrees out there and it feels so cool. And so, to relax I took a deep breath, cleared my pooch around the truck in the driveway and there it was! It sounded so loud I jumped a foot! An owl sitting in the tree next to me hooting and to add to the morning off on a tree about 30 feet away was his mate returning the call! Oh man! I was excited and so I was my little wolf-dog! That woke me right up and here it is hours later and I am still excited about it!

And I couldn’t wait to share with you. THIS is why I live where I do. Not to mention that 15 minutes from my house is a National Park my husband and I go hiking in.  People ask,” where do we go for vacation” and we say, “we go home”. Why would we need to go anywhere else? People pay money to go where we live. And I appreciate it. I have never lived in a place like this. I have lived in large municipal areas like the San Francisco Bay area, Brussels Belgium, you know, places where there are lots of people and things to do. Sometimes I miss convenience or conversation with people but then when that happens I just go out my front or back door and look around letting the feeling fade away.

Hearing the owls this morning was great! I remember about two years ago walking out in the backyard after dark and coming face to face with an owl. But being a city girl I said to myself, “nah, I must be imagining it”. But now that I have lived here longer I know there is still so much to see. And yes, I was not imaging it. Some days it is hummingbirds, bluebirds, cardinals or wrens I spy flitting about. Other times, like this morning I get a real treat. Just last week there was a hawk just sitting on a wire nearby and a little way down the road sat a crane not suspecting how beautiful of a sight he was. But this morning was a red letter day. To hear an owl and his mate in the early morning hours was very usual for me.