rural life

Real People. Real Stories. Real Land.

The delightfully unusual names of country places

The delightfully unusual names of country places

Since I was a boy I have been fascinated with the different names people have for their rural land and various parts of their property.

Squirrels gone wild!

Squirrels gone wild!

As a teenager with a single-barrel shotgun, I anticipated the opening day of squirrel season as if school were ending. Yet as my first step crunched...

Birding Across the Southern USA  Rethink Rural Blog

Birding Across the Southern USA | Rethink Rural Blog

The South provides the perfect setting for bird watchers. Grab your binoculars and check out some of these places where Mother Nature has provided a...

16 Practical Tips for Building Green on a Budget

16 Practical Tips for Building Green on a Budget

Do you dream of building green…until the reality of a designer green-home price tag sets in?

From Dallas to Prosper: Trading the city for rural life

From Dallas to Prosper: Trading the city for rural life

When Dallas Sports FM Radio 105.3 The Fan Host Ben Rogers approached his wife Kat about leaving Dallas and moving to the country, she thought he was...

How to build your first treehouse

How to build your first treehouse

Remember when treehouses were just for kids?

Hunting fashionably

Hunting fashionably

Fashion has sneaked into outdoor sports quieter than a black snake into a robin’s nest. Somewhere along the way, we switched from army fatigues to...

Living on vacation  Rethink Rural Blog  Country Life

Living on vacation | Rethink Rural Blog | Country Life

Some places and things just remind you of vacations. If you grew up going camping, it’s a tent. If you grew up vacationing on a lake, it’s a boat. On...

How to tell you're freezing

How to tell you're freezing

Hypothermia is no laughing matter, yet in a number of ways, it’s a funny ailment. For starters, it doesn’t have to be freezing for you to be...

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Do the lyrics, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” instantly put you in the Christmas mood, or is it just me? It could be the middle of October but...