I live in a small cottage on a farm. The house is surrounded by trees and bush. And often people comment to me that it must be wonderful to live in such a peaceful place.
On some days they’re absolutely right.
But this is a working farm, and sometimes I have a parade of stock trucks rattling up and down the access road that goes past my front gate. Sometimes the maize harvester is working day and night in the surrounding paddocks. Sometimes helicopters spend the day buzzing my home as they drop fertiliser on the crops. Newly weaned lambs or calves have a particular cry that is impossible to ignore.
It doesn’t bother me much – well the helicopter does sometimes – because I grew up on this farm and I understand that it is a working farm, that it’s a business, and that farm life is seven days a week. I realise the occasional busy or noisy time is the price I pay for quiet mornings like today, where there is no sound except for some distant traffic on the road, birds, and the wind.
Sadly, there are some who move to the country with romantic ideas of an idyllic and peaceful life, and don’t understand the realities. They start lodging noise complaints when the cows come in for milking next door at 4.30am, or grump about the smell from the piggery next to the house they just bought – the piggery that has been there for decades.
The thing is, a farm is a business. It’s busy. And noisy. And smelly. And sometimes just plain annoying. But that’s the nature of the work. If you want food on your table that’s the price to be paid.
If I lived in the city I’d have traffic, sirens, drunks having screaming matches at 2am. It’s all a matter of what you’re used to.
As more city folks flee horrendous house prices, traffic jams and a fast pace of life for what they perceive as a rural idyll, rural real estate agents really need to be on the ball. They are often the first point of contact for these refugees, and they’re the ones who sell the property. I know they need to make the sale, but they have the perfect opportunity to educate people about the realities of rural life. Maybe even a simple brochure outlining the possible downsides of rural life – is there such a thing already? I’ve been googling furiously but haven’t found anything yet.
Perhaps that should be my next project.
