Little Town Life

[Guest]

I mentioned in the "I can only imagine" thread that I'd love to get a home on the outskirts of town or in the country or in a small town. I've lived "city life" (well, between Chicago-type city life and small town life, anyway) all of my life, except for when I was in college ... and the short time I lived in Nashville TN in 1996. I know some think it nuts to live in a small town, but the following, which was given to me by a family friend years ago, gives some of the reasons why I'd like to live in a small town. Course, room for a big garage ... and the idea of not having many "city ordinances" to contend with ... are big factors as well ... he he....



Life in a small town? If you've never lived there, you're going to read about it and protest, "Aw, get outta here." But, those who do live there would not trade with you.


A little town is where...

...everybody knows everybody else's car by sight, and also where and when it goes. [If it is a Monte Carlo in the greater Elgin area, I pretty much know this anyway .]

...when you get the wrong number, you can talk for 15 minutes (at least) anyhow.

...it's hard for anybody to walk to work for exercise, because it takes too long to stop and explain to people in cars who stop, honk, and offer you a ride.

...businessmen struggle for survival against city stores and shopping centers.

...those same businessmen dig deep to help with countless fund-raising projects.

...everyone becomes a neighbor in time of need.

...you don't have to lock your doors.

...some people even leave the keys in the car ignitions....

...city folks say there's nothing to do, but those who do live there don't have enough nights in the week to make all the meetings and get-togethers.


A little town? Believe it ... when all is said and done, it's a nice place to live.



How about you ... have any other ways to end the "A little town is where..." sentence?



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"How much longer will they be around?" ... Don Williams ... 'Old Coyote Town'

 

[gadgetman]

*spits on boot* (Cort ©)

Well, dawg gone it. We live about a mile and a half outside the big city of Richland, Georgia, U.S. of A, population around 1700, if you don?t count the graveyards and Dawgs. ?Bubba Hills? has a population of 8 folks, 3 Dawgs, 30 (or more---can?t get beyond 20) cats, squirrels and more deer and pigs than you can shake a stick at.

Here is one place you won?t keep any secrets. Peggy had a little ?procedure? done a couple of weeks ago and couldn?t drive until last Wednesday. I ran into a local couple in the Wally World that night and the first thing she said was ?I saw Peggy running around town today, guess she?s OK to drive.? Sister-in-law took one of her grandkids out to eat at Chili?s in another town the other day and that night one of the local ladies made mention that she saw her car parked at Chili?s. Of course her car is hard to miss with all the Tony Stewart stuff on it, even the tag ?TONY?. Did I mention that right under it is the name of our county ?STEWART?. Ye Ha!!!!!

Fifteen minute phone calls, you will be lucky if you can get off in less than 30.

You get plenty of right arm exercise from all that waving when you walk anywhere. Of course a 30 minute walk can take a couple of hours with all that stopping to talk to someone. NO I DON?T NEED A RIDE----WELL, ALL RIGHT, LETS GO GET AN ICE CREAM.

We got three eating places, three gas stations (all self serve---last FULL SERVE---they pumped the gas for ya---closed about 8 years ago), several car repair places, one tire place, and three (soon to be four) undertakers. And you will hear about it next time you take your car in for a quick fix if you stopped at one of those big city car places.

The Fire Department raised over $4,000 last year for MDA from businesses and local donations.

Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, will show up for a wreck, a fire, and even after bad storms to see if there is anything they can do. And I do mean ANYTHING. Locals fixed food and dropped off at the Fire House during the clean-up from our Tornado. When someone passes on, people you haven?t seen in years will bring a pot of something by the house.

Lock my doors, heck I don?t even know where the darn key is.

Don?t leave the keys in the ignition (lived in DC too long) but we normally don?t lock them. The tractor, ATV and lawn mower have the keys in them. All my tools sit in the unlocked shed. Of course, a 12 Gauge Shotgun loaded with Buck Shot does tend to remind those that might get sticky fingers. The wife would rather use the lever action rifle or pistol. And I can always let the Dawgs loose if we miss.

Nothing to do. Well there is the Legion meeting once a month, Fire Department meeting every other Thursday, Church Choir Wednesday night, eat out with the family at Red?s Pizza every Tuesday (and get asked ?where were you? when we don?t) and of course Sunday Church followed by eating at Our Place Restaurant (do a lot of that don?t we). Oh yeah, got to work in a trip to the Nursing Home to visit Mother too. And we gotta make a trip or two into the ?BIG CITY? for something.

After living in the DC area for 19 years I wouldn?t trade it for the world.

Now Y?all come on down, Y?all hear!!!!

May God Bless,

Bubba

 

[hensylee]

I live just like Bubba. I went to Wally World last week for a quick trip - took me an hour and a half to get out. I ran into friends I hadn't seen for awhile and the time just went.

Yep, we wave, too.

One year after a hurricane, a neighbor made the rounds with barrels of water to flush. A family with kids came and clear out our fallen limbs and trees.

Traffic? Well, I met one or two this morning on my way uptown (in the country it's uptown, in the city it's downtown, you know).

Quiet? you betcha?

Stars? Oh my, you should only see. You can find them all.

Neighbors? Well, they are there but not close.

Something to do - get involved and you find you have no evenings at all at home.

News traveling? My sister used to call me from the office and say "Ask Miss Mae......... I would call my next neighbor, a 90 something lady, and she had all the news tho she seldom left her home and she always had an answer for me. Plus all the local history for the past 90 something years.

Dirt roads? yes, that too. Mine is two rut dirt (well, clay, too).

We do lock the doors these days but used to be able to leave windows and doors open 24/7 unless it rained.

Cars locked? I started locking mine a few weeks ago because we got a carport and I think it's overprotecting my car.

Yep, I live where Danny lives. Wouldn't swap it for the world, same as him.

 

[Soilman]

Dead-on with the "small town life".

I lived the first 20 years of my life in Charlotte NC. After college, my job moved me to several "moderate" sized towns, until 10 years ago. My job landed my in a small town of about 1,000 folks. To those who don't try, who expect life to be brought to them instead of them getting involved, small towns don't appear to have "anything to do, or any place to go. I LOVE walking down the street and knowing the mayor, county commissioners, and business owners by a first name basis. There's not many places in town where I couldn't walk in without a dime in my pocket and not walk out with whatever I wanted because they will simply bill me and I can pay next time I"m there. We had two tragedys occur over the last several years to individuals in our community. The whole community came together and raised over $25,000 for EACH cause. Small towns such as this are more than just friends...we're all FAMILY!

 

[Bina]

I was raised in a suburb of Montreal, nice, quiet. Then my twenties were spent in apartments and working in Montreal. Got real sick of that and moved to a hobby farm.

Life in a small town?
"When you don't know what you're doing, someone else always does."

Hubby works 8 minutes up the road and arrived late one day, he told his boss that he got stuck in "traffic".... this usually means he was behind a slow tractor or school bus. In this case it was his pick up truck and 2 others blocking the road so that the men could yak!!!

We have 1 of each: gas station, car body shop, farm equipment supply, hairdresser, convenience store, hotdog/chip stand, bank, post office, doctor, church, feed mill, bar, park, and a new cafe/restaurant.
It just makes things so simple.

And, yes, if you are walking down the road, at least 6 people will stop and ask if you need a ride!

 

[tenndon]

This thread is bringing tears to my eyes. Not from laughing but tears of sorrow for those who do not know small town life.
Here in rural Tennessee and southeast Kentucky life is so great. While I was in the hospital I got cards from people I don't know and from churches I don't attend. My church family sent more cards than I could imagine and then fed us many meals once I was home from the hospital. All because they wanted to. No obligation, just concern.
I wrote a letter to the editor of our local daily paper about an issue that hit close to home. The editor called to see if I still wanted to submit the letter and then proceeded to ask about my health. She said her church had been praying for me for weeks. Ah, the joy of a small town.
One of my favorite stories though concerns a lady who was a long time volunteer at a ministry I used to operate. When she died I called the florist to order flowers. When the lady asked what color I wanted I was unsure. She then gave me all the info I needed. Color of casket, color of lady's dress and color of casket spray. Only in a small town!!

Great thread!!
Peace of Christ,
Don

 

[hensylee]

Don, my cousin lived in a wee (really small, small) town and when I called the florist there, she had all the information at her fingertips, knew all the relatives, grew up with the deceased and took great care of my flowers for my cousin - a whole state away. Then she did the same when my brother passed away in Texas and we took him to the same small town for burial. She personally took the flowers to the cemetery to be sure they were placed as I requested.

 

[Granbonny]

For someone that lived in a small and I mean small town..for 25 years..It would take me an hour to tell of the Great life....living in rural Ga. ..We left the big city of Atlanta when our children were age 1/3....2 miles from I-85.where hubby could get down to Atlanta airport in over an hour..Delta Pilot..now, no way he could do it..traffic..Life was great in our small town....Schools were great..Life in a small town is NEVER boring when you have children..We did all the things that big cities do..Sports, scouts, cheerleading, band..PTA..Largest thing was our halloween carnival. Raised $8,000 in one night for a/c's for school..Friday night football, winter basketball, ect.the entire town was at all these games. Grandparents, ect...We had a gas station..that I would pull up to, owner fill my car and I would drive off..he knew I would stop by and pay the bill sometime small town doctor .that insisted during his off-hours to bring the kids to his house if they were sick....broken bones, ect..We lived 2 miles from town on a dirt road and a wooden bridge with the 2 planks...Drove it 6 times daily(kids in practice, ect) winter snow, ect. never a problem..got it graded once a year...My children helped with the hay baling (raised Arabian horses, learned to drive a tractor at age 12.. school year was filled with Friday night football games, basketball (fall/winter) spring track/golf.. they were never bored....75 % of their classmates went on to college. Mine, too. ......Weekends were spent swimming in our pool, ect. many kids..Parents never worried about what their kids were doing..they were too busy doing fun things..Drugs were unheard of then.......summers were spent helping neighbors gather their summer veggies.Surplus..we were never short of veggies in the summer.Corn/okra needs to be picked everyday..Had lots of tomatoes, peas, ect..Life is great on a farm..small town, too. Bonnie

 

[Bina]

I almost forgot.....when I got home from my OHS one of my neighbours came every day with a nice hot organic meal for us. She did this for 6 weeks.

Another neighbour sent her pastor to see me in the hospital, the whole church prayed for me for weeks.

Yet another neighbour drove me to the ER one night at 10:30 when my hubby was working night shift.

And another neighbour brought her pony to my front porch for a kiss. Yum.

These are the perks of small town life....love it.

BTW, don't talk about Arabian horses or I will cry. Both my half Arabs have passed on.

 

[Guest]

*spits on boot* (Cort ©)

*grins*

Thank you for the credit, bud .



Wow ... so many cool responses, I'd have no way to reply to all of 'em.

BUT ... adding one more thing that I was reminded of.......and I'm not sure I could've written it better myself, so I quote ChevyTalk's DeeGee:
"A small town is my hometown, the place I'm from, the community that made me what I am; it's called Ames, and it's in Oklahoma. Oh, and I almost forgot. A small town is where your roots and the roots of a CT member from Illinois can converge in a BBQ restaurant 50 years and many miles later."

He is describing this:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/1106/DSC07591r8_jpg.html



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"The world rolls by a million miles away" ... James Taylor ... 'Our Town'

 

[PJmomrunner]

A little town is where...

...well...Neewww York is where I'd rather be...I just adore that penthouse view...dahlin I love you but give me Park Avenue! Or Michigan Avenue...Or Wilshire Boulevard...or Beacon Hill...or....

 

[OldManEmu]

Gadgetman I am concerned for your longevity

Gadgetman I am concerned for your longevity

We live about a mile and a half outside the big city of Richland, Georgia, U.S. of A, population around 1700, if you don?t count the graveyards..

and three (soon to be four) undertakers...

Business must be booming to keep 4 undertakers in business with 1700 people

 

[hensylee]

we have two funeral homes plus a cremation outfit and another funeral home closed because the owner passed away. Every church also does funerals. Funerals are BIG draws. All politicians go, friends, neighbors, family, and those who knew somebody who knew the deceased, attend. My sister was a politician and she went to all of them wearing her huge hat (she was noted for her fancy big hats). The politicians greet everybody. If you are a politician and not in attendance, shame on you. There is generally an after funeral feast given by the deceased person's church. While driving to cemetery, every car stops as the procession passes, gets out of their car, hand on heart until all cars have passed. Great respect.

And, yes, if you aren't born here, you aren't anybody until you wed into a local family. Then you are kin to everybody in the county and they might let you 'in'. In the county where I was born, I am kin to everybody there going back hundreds of years. My brother did the family history and somehow we turned out to be relatives of everybody we knew.

If I get a package, the mailperson delivers it right to my door instead of hanging it on the mailbox or leaving a note to go get it at the post office uptown. He drives hundreds of miles a day delivering mail, waves at everybody.

 

[mntbiker]

Hi, I'd like you to meet my wife, sister and mother, I am Joe bob and she is Bobbie Joe.









Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[hensylee]

so true

I have a cousin who married Barbara. They divorced. He married her sister. Children from both. I guess the children are half brothers and sisters, cousins as well. Is their father their uncle?

 

[Guest]

I have a cousin who married Barbara. They divorced. He married her sister. Children from both. I guess the children are half brothers and sisters, cousins as well. Is their father their uncle?

*raises eyebrow*

Sounds more like a soap opera to me! He he ... and people say soap operas don't mirror life.................................hmmmm.....



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"You know J.R. is making deals" ... Hank Williams Jr ... 'This Ain't Dallas'

 

[Mary]

The town where we're from is so small that when we drive down the main street, we have to stop and honk so the dogs will get up and move off the center line.
And That's No Joke!

 

[Guest]

Hmmm....in that case, Mary ... next time I'm in the St Louis area ... I'll have to stop and see you at home . He he



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"What happened next is hard to tell" ... Ray Stevens ... 'Mississippi Squirrel Revival'

 

[Bina]

Yup, the dogs will suntan on the road....chickens and geese get loose.
Once I got chased by a small group of escaped pigs. They were actually quite scary!!

BTW, Cort: Many, many, years ago I had a 1978 Monte Carlo, black out, red in, 305 with a 4 speed stick shift....very fun, fast enough.

 

[Guest]

BTW, Cort: Many, many, years ago I had a 1978 Monte Carlo, black out, red in, 305 with a 4 speed stick shift....very fun, fast enough.

*grins*

AWESOME!!!!

So ... have any pics of it, by chance? Sure would be cool to see it . He he



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"I want a 2-tone Chevrolet" ... BJ Thomas ... '2-Car Garage'