I live in a small town now
I was in the Department of Motor Vehicles today for my license renewal
I was treated courteously, efficiently and watched others being treated the same way
On the way home from a 10 minute stop in the grocery store, 10 minutes is actually possible
I halted my car and allowed a Mallard and his pretty ducky wife to waddle across the road
Nobody honked at me
Equally with due respect for all, I slowed for a squirrel, two kitty cats, and a college student
There was no screeching of brakes or flailing of hand signals behind me
I took a detour two times, coming and going from my destination
I was delayed about three minutes - that's a minute and half each way
Flying home from Seattle early Sunday evening, a young adult traveler, while we waited 5 minutes for our carry-on luggage to come off the handy baggage trolley
Declared to me he'd "never seen such beautiful country, did I live here?"
He was from New York City
I agreed about the beauty and thankfully replied, yes, I live here
I used to live in New York City too
I live in a small town now
SS Photo - rolling hillside view around small town Walla Walla, WA
Oh, yay!!!!
ReplyDeleteYay for stopping for the ducks! :)
Oh the ducks - we have quite a number on one of our college campuses here and around town on small ponds. I've only seen one in 10 years that had been smashed by a vehicle....I think all thoughtful drivers that day must have been broken hearted as I was when acknowledging the ducky death - would that the world was more sympathetic to duck crossings and, shall we say, to other live human beings?!
ReplyDeleteAhhhhhh! So glad you like it here! This is just normal life, isn't it????JG
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ReplyDeleteM and I "escaped" from Houston almost four years ago. Our address is Bellville, a small town with a population of about 11,000 in its "metropolitan" area. We live in the "suburbs" of Bellville.
ReplyDeleteThe nearest DMV is in the metropolis of Brenham, about 20 miles away. As M waited, briefly, at that office, the staff in the small office broke into applause. One of the applicants had passed the license exam after four failures. Such personal service is one of the benefits of living in a small town.
Other little treats that we have experienced in the country:
people on horseback riding through the yard;
fawns cavorting around their mothers in our back yard;
a lost donkey wandering through the yard;
a coyote passing through the yard on his way to ???;
visiting the foals down the street and watching them grow into real, live, big horses;
...
Hi JG, No, this is not what I would call "normal" living. This is extraordinary living:)
ReplyDeleteHey Geezer - Love the extra items you added to small town treats:) We're looking forward to your visiting our small town soon!
hmmmm. i'm somehow finding myself wanting to defend the big city :-) you know i adore your small town and also feel so grateful for the many blessings i find living in ballard usa. (one being a 15 minute walk to large water both to the east and west). someone who likes to sail might find this very appealing!
ReplyDeleteLucy - you've found the best of small and large with your Ballard location. I must say that when we lived in NYC even, the walking to everything brought the scale of the big city down quite a bit. I'm trying to get myself into the walking to more things than I do mode....
ReplyDeleteAnd the sailor? He indeed might find the "water thing" entertaining, we can hope:)
xoxox