I haven’t blogged in quite some time. I have 6 or 8 blog drafts sitting in a folder on my computer desktop of half finished posts. Not sure what my deal is, but I have some nagging thoughts about a recent development in my neighborhood. I don’t really live in a neighborhood as there’s really only 3 occupied houses in the 3.5 mile stretch of road I take to get home. But for me, that’s plenty.
Recently we noticed a culvert lying in the ditch along the blacktop road that takes you to town. My oldest son wanted to confiscate it, but I advised against it and let him know that stealing isn’t something a 10-year-old boy needs to get in the habit of. Several days later, I noticed the placement of the culvert matched a gap in the trees on this particular field.
I should back up a little by saying this field, which sits at the end of my road was broke out of CRP in 2014. They’ve farmed it since it came out of grass. It did have a row of trees, almost like someone intended on building a house there at one point. But honestly, I never really thought any more about it besides how annoyed I was it was no longer in grass. It was such a sad scene seeing the disks turn over the ground.
Last year part of this parcel changed hands and we caught wind of some zoning changes and saw some survey markers. Neighbors contacted us and suggested we voice our opinions to the county commissioners. I wrote a blog post about it back then and intended on attending the commission meeting, but missed it due to a gallbladder attack. The neighbors and I believed since the zoning change wasn’t approved that the proposed housing development was a no-go.
Last week I noticed they’d done some dirt work on the ground where the culvert was so I stopped to get a photo and promptly messaged my closest neighbor if she’d heard anything. Indeed, there was a house going in. Not just a house, but three. Cue the eye roll.
I’m really torn as to how I feel about this. The majority of me feels as though we’re being encroached upon. The city is slowly expanding to the north. Every day I drive past a new housing development near my kids’ school and watch the new street being built and the houses one by one are being finished up. I’m all about progress in some realms of my world, but when it’s this close to home, I honestly don’t like it.
When we built our house in 2010, I liked how I couldn’t see anything but grass, fences and the power lines on all sides of our place. When I drive out in the pasture, my mind goes back 150 years and I can be alone with my thoughts. I can wonder what I was like to be out on the prairie trying to survive.
But I guess that’s really what life is all about. Trying to survive. Trying to survive in our piece of the world. I shouldn’t worry about what others do, but instead worry about myself and family. I shouldn’t worry that people want to have their own piece of land to live on. I just don’t want it within sight of mine!
