-Isms: Views on life in rural America

I've often said that rural people measure time differently.

We don't always go by clocks. We go by seasons, weather, and whatever is happening outside the kitchen window.

Summer, especially, has its own calendar.

The day starts when the sun peeks over the trees and ends when the last streak of pink disappears from the western sky. Lunch isn't necessarily at noon. It's whenever you finish what you're doing. And evening plans are always subject to change depending on whether a thunderstorm is building on the horizon.

Some of my favorite summer memories involve sitting on the porch and watching t...