I like living in a town with one ZIP code. I’ve no desire to live in a suburb. I like that I can see a field when I look down my street. I think everybody ought to know their neighbors.
No, you won’t find me living in a big city. I’m a farm girl who made the move to town — a town no bigger than a mile square — just my size.
Living in a small town has its distinct advantages.
When the local grocer carries out your groceries, you don’t have to tell him what car is yours, he already knows. He also packs your refrigerated items in one bag and your frozen stuff in another because he knows you’ve only got a 30-minute lunch break and you’re going to rush home and throw the bags in the fridge and freezer and hustle back to work. He’s looking out for you.
At the drug store, the pharmacist knows your ailments, your kids’ ages and your parents’ names, so you don’t have to explain anything in great, uncomfortable detail, he’s already got the answer you’re looking for.
At church, if you’re not in your pew on Sunday, someone’s bound to check on you. They’ll pray for you, too, without you even asking. They’ll be there when you need them to be, whether it’s time to celebrate or console.
On your block, you can count on the neighbors to look out for one another. It’s an unspoken alliance to be watchful, to look out for the kids and the elderly. It’s the driveway discussion and the backyard conversations.
In most small towns, the school knits together generations. From kids to grandparents, all ages unite for school pride. The kids on the court or the field belong to all of us and we cheer for them like they are our own. It’s our team.
Living in a small town allows you to become embroidered into the fabric of the community. People will try to rope you in —it’s up to you to tie the knot.
Newcomers — anyone who’s lived here less than 30 years — will probably always be identified as the people who bought so-and-so’s house.
If you’ve lived here all of your life, you’ll probably always be known by your maiden name if you’re a woman or as so-and-so’s son if a man. Try as you might you can’t escape the way small towns like to cement our connections.
Sure, you can’t escape prying eyes in a small town either. I like to think that people are just looking out for me — just like I would do for them.
Of course living in a small town, generally means your Christmas card list is longer than average, your wait at the clinic is briefer, your yard is bigger and your walk downtown is shorter. You wave to more people in a day than big city folks, you talk more in the line at grocery store, you’ll get stuck in fewer traffic jams and your kids have extra “parents” to keep an eye on them.
Hillsboro is where I’d rather be.
