peachbruises:

To be a woman in the country means:

To tune myself to the rhythms of sun, rain, stars and seasons and to flow with the cycles of myself;

To see fertility in everything around me — pine cones, eggs, lambs, seeds — and feel at one with myself as a life-giver;

To use my muscles and feel my strength grow as I rely on myself for my physical needs, walking, digging, chopping, carrying, building;

To pause frequently to see beauty, feel quietness and take a distant view, finding I can be more nurturing to myself and give more of peace to others;

To wear old clothes, practical clothes or no clothes, or to dress up in costumes, to feel like a person expressing her inside outwardly;

To plan each day anew — (no routines) because I can balance the weather, the seasonal work, my feelings and my needs into an utterly unique day of work and re-creation

- Jeanne Tetrault, Country Women, 1976