in the first of light

photo from here

As a city girl, I can't wait until I flee someday. There's an intriguing paradox that I live right now in the sense that at any moment in time, I can be ever so materialistic in my desires yet simultaneously live in the rural areas of Australia. My first real taste of the rural life was when I ventured up north to the Hunter Valley. Ha! I guess that can't be really considered rural in the widest sense but it was the furthest I've been in New South Wales. The land and people are so close knit, with busy highways sprawling to tiny offbeat roads that run its course along the the curvatures of the land and in the middle of it all, lie houses that are put up the people who feel the connection to their land.

It was in the middle of winter when we went to the heart of the Hunter, off Cessnock and to the west of Maitland. The fog was there when we first arrived in the late afternoon with its mist hanging over the potted flowers that were situated beside the walkway to the entrance of our home we'd be living in for 3 days. The air smelled different when we were there and the gravel roads were worn and dusty, as if this was truly somewhere separated from others. I had grown so used to Sydney with all its hustle and glory that seeing these small towns with their small populations stemmed an incredible interest within. Yet the most amazing of all were the clearest of skies and the sparkling stars that shone down late in the evening.  What I saw in the Hunter truly ignited a spark within. Maybe one day I'll be living rural.