Small Towns

I grew up in a small town and now I live in Phoenix. I have enjoyed the availability of things such as the grocery store, take out, doctor visits without the 45 minute drive. If run out of something I run down to the store to pick it up. I have found an affection for Target and the movies. I only have to buy enough groceries for a couple days instead of a week or a month. I don't have to plan to buy gas if I am at a quarter of a tank before heading home so that I make sure that I have enough to get back to town. If I was still in my small town, the movies (up until recently) and Target was an hour and half away.

That all being said... I realized yesterday on my way to Yuma for the Farm Bureau meeting how much I miss my small town. Where I grew up in Oregon, our town consisted of a store, gas station, post office, bar/cafe and a house.



Maybe I should clarify... the entire town is in one building. Maybe town is the wrong word... medium wide spot along the road. But it was where I grew up and I have a lot of great memories there. It's a place that the hours of the bar are the same as the store.

It's where you can spend a couple hours drinking coffee or soda and see your neighbors and catch up with what is going on. It's where if you are walking or jogging down the road, people stop to see if you need a ride because you might be broken down. It's where you leave your doors unlocked and keys in the ignition of your vehicles because no one is going to take them. It's where you run a tab at the store because up until a few years ago it was strictly a cash or check business. It's where the only time you don't recognize vehicles or have more than 5 pass you on the way to town is during hunting and fishing season. It's where going to the parade in town (the town 45 minutes away) is a big deal because you and your dad walk the entire length of it and back to see all the neighbors that live within a 50 mile radius. It's where everyone knows your name, your parents and grandparents names and your dog's too.

I thought of all of this because I was driving through Wellton/Roll area after leaving a school and a farmer waved at me. He didn't know me but he probably was a Farm Bureau member and I was in the Farm Bureau truck but the most logical reason he waved is because that is what you do when you live in a small town or come from a medium wide spot in the road.

When I moved to college I loved the fact that for the first time, most people didn't know me. I wasn't hindered by who I was in kindergarten or grade school. When I moved to Phoenix I loved it for the same reasons. But yesterday I realized I don't like having my neighbors not know me or the fact that people don't wave driving down the road or that instead of going to a neighbor's house to borrow sugar I go to the store instead. I miss the long and deep friendships you have with your neighbors when you live in a wide spot in the road that you miss living in a large city.

I miss living in a place without smog, rush hour traffic and where you can't order a pizza for delivery.