In the city you hear sirens; out here it's the howling of the coyotes

There has been debate here at Falling Downs about someday, maybe, in the fullness of time, eventually, perhaps moving back to the city. We'd be closer to family, of which we have none less than a two hour drive away. In winter, that can easily become three hours or more. Once you're at five or six hours of driving to have a two hour get-together, you tend not to do it as often as you might like. I'm not crazy about the idea. Speaking strictly for myself, my quality of life would be diminished. Took a two hour walk this afternoon, through the woods across the road, across the snow-coverered fields on the neighbours place, along the sideroad and then back through my woodlot atop the hill and along the creek to home. The solitude was divine. Just a few minutes ago, I stepped out on the stoop for a breath of fresh air, and the coyotes were singing. In the city, you'd hear sirens instead. Police, fire, ambulance... sometimes singing in unison, celebrating the bad luck of folks whose day is going way worse than your own. Out here, you can be more or less alone with your thoughts. There's a few birds about, the winter's been mild enough you might see a racoon, but that's it. In the city, you pass hundreds of folks on a two hour walk, and most of them are pissed off about something. It's a tough call.