God I love it here

It's something I've said to myself many times during the last three years in Tasmania. It's generally due to the small things. When I say it, I am usually driving down the road in the truck and shaking my head in disbelief at how lucky I am to have showed up in a beautiful place like this and made a new life here. To provide specifics, here are a few things that made me say this recently:

• Minutes after a bush fire broke out in our town in February, friends and acquaintances from all around were calling, emailing or tweeting offering somewhere to stay (including our various animals) should we need to evacuate. Lucky for us it didn't get close.
• Going to local functions and realising we know almost everyone in the room
• The lady at the the petrol station who said I could have the fuel discount despite leaving the voucher at home because I am 'a regular' (I swear we've only met a couple of times)
• Walking down the driveway to lock the chook shed after 9pm at night in summer and it's still light
• Walking down the driveway to lock the chook shed at 5pm in winter and the birds are already asleep on their perch
• Getting up close with wildlife including the blind pademelon who comes out in the daylight to feed near our garage and the one who hides out in the chook shed if I don't close it early enough
• The dinners we ate where almost all of the ingredients came from our garden
• The friends who say they have too much silverbeet or too many raspberries, so just come over and help yourself
• Chats with shopkeepers. People take time here.
• The view. There's always the view. You'd have to look hard to find a bad one.