Today is the day I officially move back to the country. I grew up on a farm but have lived in various cities since I left home to go to university in the mid-1990s.

Now, after many years as city dwellers, my husband and I are moving to a small acreage just outside of Guelph. I’m not kidding myself about being rural – compared to where my parents still live in Grey County, I might as well be downtown Guelph and not just a mile or so beyond the city limits!

There are many folks like us, escaping the city by moving to rural areas but for many, it’s not just a matter of adjusting to life without cable or municipal water. It’s also important to fit into the new environment into which you’ve move – which is not always easy and can cause friction between newcomers and longtime residents.

A great article by Angela Dorie printed in the Cornwall Standard Freeholder last fall talks about this very issue. You can read the article here, on the “Let’s talk farm animals” blog.