I live on a 100+ acre rural property just outside a large city. Surrounded by mansions and massive estates, and with a world renowned walking trail literally ju

I live on a 100+ acre rural property just outside a large city. Surrounded by mansions and massive estates, and with a world renowned walking trail literally just down the street. There are many things I like. There are many things I don't. Not least that everything is a 20+ minute drive away. Everything feels entirely remote. Now add endless ticks (for some reason worse than ever the past two years), black flies, mosquitoes, wasp nests appearing everywhere, the stink of farm fields, closer still the stink of septic beds (whenever a low pressure system rolls in you smell the septic tanks. And to be clear, this is an area of very high end homes all on massive lots). Every storm is a power outage, requiring eventually equipping a whole house generator. Every snow storm is a disaster. Grounds maintenance is an endless pit of effort. The streets are barely wide enough for cars so a walk feels like a death defying activity, and almost no one actually does it. The trail is always incredibly busy. Before we lived here we lived in a small home across from a grocery store shopping complex in an urban area. The backyard was tiny and we had nosey neighbours who'd hang over the fence and watch what you were doing. You'd hear the endless rattle of crapbox Civics with noise-making mufflers, blasting the bassline of some rap. I enjoyed living in that tiny house way, way more. I loved just walking across the street early Sunday morning, while everyone slept, and smelling all the freshly baked goods, getting a croissant fresh from the oven. A five minute walk yielded parks, trails, pizza places, sushi, and everything else. I have no idea why I posted this, but happiness in life really isn't as easily assessed as we often think. There are many who would be absolutely certain that their life would be nothing but bliss if they lived where I did. Humans don't work like that.