How is where I live a blessing?

I moved from Scotland, the land of my birth to Toronto, after spending an interim year in Spain. I lived in Canada for over 30 years. Then 14 years ago, I moved to Ireland, and live in the area known as the Sunny Southeast. This means that we don’t get the amount of rainfall that most people associate with the Emerald Isle, but we get enough that it is very green. We have daffodils in January and some rose blooms remain throughout the winter.I live in a lovely town and my home is directly opposite the river that runs through it. It used to be noted for excellent salmon fishing, but stocks are very depleted these days. I once caught a 28 pounder!From the riverbank, where I walk every day, I can see otters, swans, ducks herons, buzzards and, more rarely, catch the flashing beauty of a kingfisher.I do feel blessed and very grateful to live here. Crime is negligible, there is a good hospital and the air is sweet and clean. One can be in the countryside within 5 minutes, yet the town is a great shopping and dining area and has a reasonable amount of cultural offerings (usually!). The town (Clonmel) is noted for the making of cider, and orchards are abundant. The whole area is rich in agricultural land (unfortunately not enough of it is organic yet) and also noted for the plethora of horseracing establishments. Within an hour’s drive I can be on one of many beautiful coastal beaches.People here are extremely friendly and most everybody (including children and teenagers!) says hello or gives a smile even if we don’t know each other. The Irish call these acknowledgements “saluting”. Many of my friends are, like me, known as “blow-ins” i.e. we have come from other countries. Of course we have many fine buildings here, many of them dating to the Georgian period when the British ruled Ireland and, fortunately, restoration rather than demolition is now the law. Ancient castles abound also.I’m beginning to feel as if I am writing a brochure for the Irish Tourist Board – so I’ll stop there!