The thing about small towns, is you go along in your early years meeting people who love it and will never leave, or hate it and can't wait to turn 18 and run as far away as possible. I was neither.
Going to university a mere 45 minutes away kept me close enough to visit, but gave me enough of a change. Living in the city is definitely different than having a forest in my backyard.
These days, I am enjoying being a city girl. I love being 2 blocks from my grocery store. No car payments means a little more money in my pocket. I can go anywhere and do anything within a 10 km radius. At any time. Also the fact that there are no mosquitoes is kind of amazing.
But I come home often to visit my parents. Part of it is to see them, but another part of it is to wind down. City life is a little busier than life out here. You can get caught up in the movement and all of a sudden your head is spinning. Coming home gives me a chance to breathe, take a few minutes for myself and relax.
This is where I like to come and read. By the river. It's peaceful, beautiful and rejuvenating. I fall in love with my small hometown all over again in moments like these.
You never know where life is going to take you. In a year or two I may be hours away in an even bigger city. But I will know that a part of me will always belong to the countryside. A part of me will always call this place home. And who knows, maybe someday I will end up back here.
what a pretty spot!
ReplyDeletekw, Ladies in Navy
This is such a sweet post. I've never lived in the country side, always in the city. I'm so used to being able to walk or take a quick bus ride to wherever I need that I'm not sure i can handle the country. Lol But it is sooo pretty!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice? Yeah, the nice thing about the country is the life is a little slower. I mean, it takes some adjustment, but it really makes you sit back and realize that it's good to take a break, move slowly and enjoy the ride. Ya know?
DeleteI may live at the beach now, but I'm a city girl. I definitely miss living in NYC! I know what you mean about needing to get away from time to time though. City living can be so hectic and fast paced!
ReplyDelete-Sharon
The Tiny Heart
Oh man living in NYC would be AH-MAZING! However, I don't think I could do it forever. Maybe for a couple years. Just because it's SO busy all the time there!
DeleteI LOOOVE city life but after finishing grad school I had to move back home (to a small town) to start the job hunt and start saving up some serious money, so I am currently living here with mixed feelings but do enjoy the look at what my life would have been like if I just stayed here. It's weird to live in a place that hasn't changed when so much about who I was the last time I lived here (when I was 17) is not the same now (at 23). Love your opposite perspective on this!
ReplyDelete-Chelsea
chelsandthecity.blogspot.com
You know, that was me. After finishing my undergrad I moved back home for a year. I just wanted out to get away and be independent again. The city is perfect for people like us who are young and want to going places all the time, but I know when I grow up I will crave a front AND back yard ;)
DeleteLove this!! I don't really know what it's like to live in a small town, but I love visiting my in-laws. They live just outside the city (a small city, and they live like 5 minutes out), but they've got a ton of land and it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. I just love it!
ReplyDeleteNice sunbeams in that first shot, Kelly! I was much the same. I grew up in a small neighbourhood surrounded by farmland with its own forest and river. We were a little closer to the city, but it was long distance to call Orleans at the time. The farmlands have since been absorbed by encroaching surburbia but my old neighbourhood still feels like a peaceful oasis, with mature trees and very few streetlamps at night (I think it's peaceful, visitors think it's creepy).
ReplyDelete