|
People often ask, "What's it like living
in a small town?"
In my case, it means a town of less than
500 people. Small, and also isolated, high in the mountains
of Southwest Colorado.
The isolation makes one feel special. A
state highway runs north/south and that's our only access.
Fifty miles to the nearest stoplight, closest supermarket,
and civilization.
Because there are few other distractions,
everything that happens in town takes on a huge significance.
TV news, the radio and newspapers are all talking about
a world that's far away.
Local news is the most interesting, the
most talked about.
And of course the weather is big. People
in town talk of nothing else, really. What else is so important,
what else do you plan your life around?
You can walk everywhere in a small town,
although lots of people don't. You can look up main street
and tell, just by whose pickup is parked where, or who's
dog is lying in front of what door, exactly what is happening
at any given moment.
The so-called "good" things about
living in a small town can just easily become bad, depending
on your attitude. The easy predictability of knowing who
is where and what's going on at any given moment during
winter can easily give way to boredom come spring.
Sure, we have to make a great effort and
drive 100 miles round trip to do most any business. It involves
planning ahead and learning to live without something until
you can make the trip. But that's one reason I like it here.
In the suburbs you pass supermarkets, drug stores, and convenience
stores at every corner, and it's too easy to buy what you
don't need.
For us, a trip to the big city is special.
We can spend an afternoon at Walmart after a long winter.
In a small town, the feeling of belonging
to a community, knowing others are enduring the same discomforts
and pleasures, is a good one. Walk into a restaurant in
a small town and chances are you'll know everyone there,
some by name, others by acquaintance. And the table of strangers
over in the corner must be vacationers, getting away from
the ski area for the day, or hunters, grabbing a hot meal.
Do something special and it's great to know
all these people and have them congratulate you, or wish
you luck. But do something you regret, and try to find a
place to eat where nobody knows you! Try and get your mail
at the post office without running into someone you know.
"I love that shade you finally settled
on," says Mrs. Bergman to you in a loud voice at the
bank, looking at your hair..
Sure, we don't have rush hour traffic in
a small town, but you can get just as impatient sitting
behind a loader while it dumps a load of snow from main
street into the waiting dump truck. Or always having to
go around the high school kids stalled in the middle of
main, talking across the yellow line.
Try to go to the library and get a racy
novel to lift your spirits when you're in a bad mood. Ten
people stop to talk and the librarian tells you everyone
who has checked out the book recently.
You can't stay mad at people in a small
town. You may not like everyone, but you maintain a friendly
nod, because sooner or later, you'll have business with
them.
The mountains dominate our town. From the
pass, it looks insiginificant when rounding the last corner
and looking down on the small bunch of lights surrounded
by looming mountains. Walking on the hill overlooking town,
it looks like a railroad village, a play town. The courthouse
clock and green lawn, the little houses, a red brick school.
But compared to the big world, our town
is manageable, a place where one can be a big fish in a
little sea. A place where you know exactly where the water
you drink comes from, where your trash goes, and where the
toilet water ends up.
|
