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Small Town
14 years ago
I can't believe you're reading this!
So, I just listened to the song by John Mellencamp, and I'm really missing home right now. A town with about 8,000 people, and it's so large it would take two days to walk the border in a full circle. Our center of town is the fairgrounds which is empty except for Labor Day weekend, there's three antique shops, a coffee shop, a british tea shop, and a ye olde candy shop. Local high school is just up the road where my friends and I graduated from. The town transfer station (or dump as we call it) is not too far away. Found lots of goodies there in the recycling shed.
I remember walking the back roads at midnight with my friends causing all sorts of mischief. I remember the first time I got drunk at my friend's house while his parents were away. I remember the good laughs I've had with old friends, friends I've lost, and friends I'm still in contact with. I remember the bad times and the heart breaks. I remember whipping down the stretch on route 171 at 90mph for the short quarter of a mile it was. I remember losing my glasses in a river when we tried to get more people into a canoe while investigating a beaver dam. I remember having to bury my 14 year old dog. I remember learning that my uncle had passed at the young age of 30. I remember when my great grandparents passed. I remember building the addition to our home (that's still technically being built [going on 8 years now]).
If my family didn't live in Woodstock, they lived close by, never more than one town over. We were always close to each other, and family get togethers were always a regular occurrence. Fourth of July barbeque, birthdays used to be a big deal, especially at big milestones (40, 50, etc.) Random barbeques in the middle of summer. Of course, there are just the plain ol' calm days. Sitting on the porch in the cool afternoon sun, eating fresh sliced watermelon. Or sitting inside, enjoying the warmth during a cold snow storm.
If it weren't for living in that small town, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I wouldn't have the values and beliefs that I do. I don't think I could have been a better person living anywhere else. I hate being in cities, I would rather see trees on both sides of an old cracked and under maintained road than concrete buildings lining the gridded pattern of roads. I want to drive by farm after farm, seeing nothing but corn and cows. I want to see people outside mowing their lawn, having a yardsale, or just catching up with a neighbor.
I've always wanted to get away from it when I was younger. And I still do want to get away. But wherever I live, I want it to be just like my small town. I can't ever forget about that small town. I could never live in a city, and I don't want to raise a child in a city. Nothing beats the smell of fresh clean air, the sight of old and towering trees, and a small community with a fair that's been around for over a hundred and fifty years.
Shout out to all the people who live(d) in a small town.
I remember walking the back roads at midnight with my friends causing all sorts of mischief. I remember the first time I got drunk at my friend's house while his parents were away. I remember the good laughs I've had with old friends, friends I've lost, and friends I'm still in contact with. I remember the bad times and the heart breaks. I remember whipping down the stretch on route 171 at 90mph for the short quarter of a mile it was. I remember losing my glasses in a river when we tried to get more people into a canoe while investigating a beaver dam. I remember having to bury my 14 year old dog. I remember learning that my uncle had passed at the young age of 30. I remember when my great grandparents passed. I remember building the addition to our home (that's still technically being built [going on 8 years now]).
If my family didn't live in Woodstock, they lived close by, never more than one town over. We were always close to each other, and family get togethers were always a regular occurrence. Fourth of July barbeque, birthdays used to be a big deal, especially at big milestones (40, 50, etc.) Random barbeques in the middle of summer. Of course, there are just the plain ol' calm days. Sitting on the porch in the cool afternoon sun, eating fresh sliced watermelon. Or sitting inside, enjoying the warmth during a cold snow storm.
If it weren't for living in that small town, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I wouldn't have the values and beliefs that I do. I don't think I could have been a better person living anywhere else. I hate being in cities, I would rather see trees on both sides of an old cracked and under maintained road than concrete buildings lining the gridded pattern of roads. I want to drive by farm after farm, seeing nothing but corn and cows. I want to see people outside mowing their lawn, having a yardsale, or just catching up with a neighbor.
I've always wanted to get away from it when I was younger. And I still do want to get away. But wherever I live, I want it to be just like my small town. I can't ever forget about that small town. I could never live in a city, and I don't want to raise a child in a city. Nothing beats the smell of fresh clean air, the sight of old and towering trees, and a small community with a fair that's been around for over a hundred and fifty years.
Shout out to all the people who live(d) in a small town.
tahvel
~tahvel
that sounds a lot like my own, small and rural, everyone knows everyone, it really is nice to live in such small areas. i can't nearly express how i feel about it as well as you have, and i don't feel like trying, you have spoken it perfectly
