color me pissed. there’s nothing i hate more than spending 30 minutes writing an awesome post and having your screen refresh on you and delete the entire post. savesavesavesavesave. i should learn to save. but i never will. i’m so bad. anyway, since my brain is fried and i won’t remember any of it, i’ll start from scratch. (also, my mom just lost a resident. seriously, she runs nursing homes and they just called to tell her that one their assisted living residents has been missing since lunchtime. it’s now 8:00. she’s heading down there now. cripes.)
here i am in the land of milk and honey…well, more like the land of cheese curds and miller beer. where one-story houses are called ranches and the women wear green bay packers earrings. where you drink from bubblers (instead of water fountains) and you put gimmies on your ice cream (instead of sprinkles).
seriously, it’s like being in a time warp here. like it’s two decades too late or something. styles that have already gone out in Toronto are just now coming in. the closest Macy’s is in another state. another state. savesavesavesavesave.
i make fun, but there’s something to be said for small-town living.
the houses are on lakes. small lakes that freeze enough to skate on in the winter and are clean enough to swim and fish in in the summer. and there’s land. acres of land. trees and lawns and gardens and places for children to run around. we don’t have that. we have a driveway and a deck and a little plot of green in the backyard. also for the price i paid for my 2900 square foot house in Toronto, i could buy a house DOUBLE the size here.
and there’s target. ah….target.
and people are so friendly. we went for a walk today and there were people out jogging and walking their dogs and kids out playing. they said hi to us. people who didn’t know us. that doesn’t happen in Toronto. i would probably do a double-take if a stranger on the street said something to me at home. maybe even a triple-take. savesavesavesave.
and there’s target.
it feels safe. people here don’t lock their doors. they leave them wide open. there’s less traffic. if you go away, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL PICK UP YOUR MAIL. (could you just die?)
and there’s target. have i mentioned that i am a big fan?
i could never do it. i’m way too urban-ized. i like having the theater and the museums and the culture. i am in the heart of the fashion scene (even though i can’t afford to buy any of it). i like that there’s a film festival in Toronto. i like the transit system – being able to travel across the city for pennies (well, for loonies.)
but sometimes you just DO want to be where everybody knows your name.
song of the day: a little less sixteen candles, a little more touch me by Fall Out Boy
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I live in Cornwall PEI. Very small town. Trust me – there’s no such thing as boredom here:) My children can walk out our front door and safely go kilometres in every direction. All the neighbors know us by name, know that my children belong to me and if one of them were to get hurt, they would know, not only where we live, but how to reach me by phone, my mom by phone and who our family doctor is! (I’m slightly exaggerating, but not much;) Our schools are within walking distance (a couple of km) but my kids still take the bus, and their bus driver knows them all by name… There’s always something to do. And, when we start to feel bored…all we have to do is walk outside and see the acres and acres of grass and trees everywhere before we’re inspired to find something fun and creative to do! Yesterday we collected leaves at the park!! I love to visit Toronto and all the big cities – but I’d pick clean air and safe streets to raise my kids in any day!!!! Cheers!
Not to rub it in, but Target is only 5min from my house! I LOVE it. Where we live in CA, we get a small town feel (where people wave and say Hi without knowing you) but we are so close to the hub of the Bay Area, it’s the best of both worlds.
Sometimes I think about the simplicity of small town living but then know that it would soon turn into boredom. Everything is only a block or two from my front door now and I just couldn’t give that up! However, it is nice to have a break from the hustle and bustle.
Ali, Happy Thanksgiving (well the Canadian kind anyway!!). Yep, something to be said about small town living, like being a BIG fish in a SMALL pond, which is great a lot of the time, but then again, you are still a BIG fish in a SMALL pon ROFL.
Me? Don’t think I could do the small town thing, I am an urbanist myself.
Oh, I love Target too – but it isn’t as good here as in the U.S.
I should have written, “your writing is so funny.” and not that you’re a funny writer, that kind of sounds like you’re a funny looking writer or something, which is not at all. 😉
You are a very funny writer! I’m with you there about small town living. My kind would stick out like a sore thumb there in cheeseland. I hope your Mom will find her resident soon.