Well, I grew up on a small farm in the West Interlake of Manitoba, Canada. Our family farm is located about 23kms from the small town of Eriksdale (under 1000 pop for the entire municipality, which even living 23kms away we are part of). It was always, in my opinion, great living out in the country where the land you walk on is yours and there is so much of it that you can't hope to cover it all. The common occurrance of seeing wildlife exist in its natural habitat is an amazing thing, especially when you have become a part of its habitat. The hot days and cool summer nights are definitely something I look forward to. Being able to do an honest days work in the warm summer sun, and party hard during the cool nights whether alongside a bonfire at the beach, in a bush, or just wherever. I always enjoyed being able to drive what seemed an endless distance throughout the fields with whatever girl had my heart at that particular time, and be able to show her the sweet secrets that I had discovered across our land over the years. Whether it's a field that seems to supply an endless amount of wild strawberries, despite our best attempts to eat them all or a small creek bubbling in a glade who's only inhabitants seem to be the songbirds and wild deer. Although, autumn is my favourite time of year around the farm. The landscape adopts a reddish tinge, and the old beaten dirt roads are covered in a blanket of leaves. I can smell the smoke from the chimney as I pass by a house, and know that it is so warm inside despite the crisp cool air outside. I like the nakedness that takes over the large forests that seemed to be impenetrable walls during the summer months. Now I can see through them, I can see what was hidden on the other side. That musky smell of the leaves decomposing beneath me mixes with the cool breeze coming from the cold north and fills my lungs with a scent I know too well, triggering memories of years past. I just can't entirely describe the feeling that I get in the late autumn months. Winter, albeit too cold for man or beast at times has its own amazing qualities as well. Some cloudy nights are so dark that when you walk out to check the cattle you're unsure if your flashlight will work, or if the darkness will just overtake the measly light it offers. Yet, other nights when it is especially cold, the nights when it's so quiet the whole world seems to sleep and even your own breath is shallow because you are scared of waking the world.. those are the nights that the stars shine so brightly that the flashlight stays in the house. The snow glistens as though made up of millions of tiny gems and you can see almost as well as you could during the middle of the day. It's these nights that I would wander aimlessly through the fields, staring straight up into the sky. Eventually my neck would get sore enough that I'd just fall backwards into the snow, just so I could keep looking. Nights like these are the ones that really makes a person wonder what's out there, and what am I in comparison. In all honestly I love where I've grown up. I could ramble on about hard times and various things that I feel have made me become a better person, but I'm not too keen on writing a novel just yet. I've been shown throughout my life that hard work and a good head on one's shoulders pays off in the end. Be confident, friendly & fair and you can expect to go far. I wouldn't have it any other way.