The Rural Thread

[gardentuber]

I just got home after a day of work. I was driving down my drive (forgive the syntax) and a big, black animal ran out of the bushes on one side and down my neighbor's driveway. Of course, you think of the familiar first: a big black giant schnauzer, only my animal was too big; maybe a big black bouvier, only my animal was too black and still too big and it was too rounded off and it ran wrong; a BLACK BEAR. Spot on! The first I've actually seen since moving here 2+ years ago. Cool! Scary!

 

I like the country cause I'd rather take advantage of what the countryside has to offer than what the city has to offer: I like to hike, garden, enjoy the views. When I last lived in the city, I had stopped going to galleries or performances or taking in the nightlife. I can still do those things if I want. It takes only an hour to get to downtown Seattle (it's fast because of the ferry), but I'd rather save the hour when going for a hike than save an hour when going into town. I'd rather take my trash to the dump than have it picked up. I'd rather heat with wood than with oil. I'd rather have a well and septic than have city water and sewage. I'd rather see the stars at night, too!

 

As for the people, it's true, you can meet assholes or good folk in any environment. The stereotypes of country folk exhibited in previous posts are just stereotypes. They tell us more about the prejudices/humor of the poster than the populace of the countryside. My next door neighbors cleared fallen trees from my drive following a wind storm without my even knowing it had been obstructed. And it wasn't because they wanted firewood! The wood was just trash - small diameter alder. Then again, when I had a truck farm, when one neighbor's calf got into my field, the neighbor got mad at me for not driving it back through the fence and never offered to reimburse me for the damage it did. The neighbor on the other side, when his horses got into the field, made a point of paying for the trampled and browsed lettuce. Some people are jerks, some are decent. Needless to say, when we had spare produce, one neighbor got provisioned while the other got zip!

 

Rural homophobia? I've encountered a bit, but less than I've had to deal with in urban settings. Queer bashers go to gay neighborhoods to search for queers to beat on, they don't seek out folks living quietly down a lane. Then again, I make a point of selecting liberal counties and I check my neighbors carefully when I look for a rural place to live.

 

At times I've lived an urban life. I've been a performing artist, attended shows, been in shows, gone to galleries, spent all day in rehearsals, gone clubbing... That's just not where I am any longer. More recently, I've kept a truck farm and taught kayaking. Now, I work in plant nurseries.

 

For me, the worst thing about rural living is the isolation. I hate being single. I'm really bad at it. I don't handle singlehood well at all. However, I don't expect I'll ever find a partner given my choice of living conditions. I'm "geographically disadvantaged".

 

Why did I start this thread? Mostly to see what other people think about living in the country, and what they think about the countryside. And to let other people's thinking inform my own. Thank you for giving me somethings to think about.

[Krista]

When I moved to the city, I found it so difficult to sleep decently with street lights shining out of my room. Even with the curtains closed.

 

And I still have some trouble because of that.

 

I absolutely need pitch black when I go to bed. Just like my country hometown.

 

There is no such thing as pure silence in the country. You still hear crickets.

 

 

God yes.. Crickets.. they're a joy to listen to when you're like.. camping.. but when you're in bed and those things start making noise, I know if I wasn't scared of bugs they'd so get hunted down and squashed..

 

I also need pitch blackness when I sleep.. if I can see my hand in front of my face its too much light..

[JamesSavik]

We're having tornadoes in Dixie tonight.

 

And people think I have a BUNKER because I'm a paranoid lunatic.

[Jack Frost]

God yes.. Crickets.. they're a joy to listen to when you're like.. camping.. but when you're in bed and those things start making noise, I know if I wasn't scared of bugs they'd so get hunted down and squashed..

 

I also need pitch blackness when I sleep.. if I can see my hand in front of my face its too much light..

I am deaf... When I camp, I don't wear the aids... so I don't hear a thing. It's too uncomfortable to sleep with them.

 

I think it makes it more scarier than crickets because you'll never know if a raccoon is hanging around causing trouble if you don't hear a thing. God I'm never camping alone again... I actually thought some animal was sitting on my head only to find out after 10 minutes of fear and stillness that it was just the tent wall. When it's so dark, I get paranoid because you'll never know what's lurking 30 feet away from you, even with flashlights.

 

I have the same fear swimming to the deep part of a lake... I just couldn't help wondering what could be under you 20 feet down. Heh.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Jack Frost

[Arpeggio]

The best part of the country is the view.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Arpeggio

[gardentuber]

I am deaf... When I camp, I don't wear the aids... so I don't hear a thing. It's too uncomfortable to sleep with them.

 

I think it makes it more scarier than crickets because you'll never know if a raccoon is hanging around causing trouble if you don't hear a thing. God I'm never camping alone again... I actually thought some animal was sitting on my head only to find out after 10 minutes of fear and stillness that it was just the tent wall. When it's so dark, I get paranoid because you'll never know what's lurking 30 feet away from you, even with flashlights.

 

I have the same fear swimming to the deep part of a lake... I just couldn't help wondering what could be under you 20 feet down. Heh.

 

Hell yes! I remember when I first camped solo, every first night I would be paranoid, remembering all the horrible tales of guys getting out of the tent to investigate strange sounds and never being seen again! The fear seemed to visit each first night, even after I had been solo backpacking for years. I finally got used to the first night's paranoia and learned to ignored it.

 

Funny thing... when I first moved to and lived in Seattle a few years ago, I went through the same process in reverse. I felt paranoid about home invasion burglars and the like.

 

And then... the paranoia about something big in the depths in the water below me. When I used to teach kayaking in the SF Bay, I remembered that fear from my youth. I think it was instigated by a trailer for a monster movie of giant sea creatures attacking boats that I saw at a very (young) impressionable age. Once, I was paddling in the Ojo Liebre lagoon, where the gray whales breed in Mexico. The whales kept surfacing near us. Picture an object surfacing 15 feet from you, exhaling explosively and then rising and continuing to rise until a beady eye the size of a quarter is looking at you! Freaky!

 

Jack Frost... I hear ya!

[Jack Frost]

Eh, canoeing or kayaking don't bother me over deep waters. It's the swimming part I worry sometimes without someone next to me. It's just, I prefer company when I camp out when I could have someone who hears making sure of everything. Same with swimming. I cannot swim with my hearing aids on, or it will ruin them if I get them wet.

 

I love the country. Period. I grew up with nature around me. Even just mostly wooded... Still. My parents have almost 3 arces of land with an acre of grass and house and the rest, all wooded with a nice creek deep in the woods. I spent a lot of my childhood exploring the wooded part and saw animals and so on.

 

Farms do exist where I am from, but it's difficult to farm the region due to thin topsoil and mountain terrain. For sure corns, apples, beans, wheats... etc... can grow there. Prolly easier to raise cattle, horses, and sheep instead.

 

I just got to have a piece of the countryside once every while. I grew up like that, so being in a city is not enough.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Jack Frost

[Rabble_Rouser]

I grew up on a medium sized farm about 20 minutes outside a town of about 3500. By high school, I decided that it was best to flee to the city and moved to a town of about 100 000 for university. After university I moved the Toronto (about 4 million people). I'm finding that I like city living (much better now that I live in a city of about 1 million... just a comfortable size ).

 

However, I'm looking for property to buy (prices are certainly good right now) back in the rural area I grew up as I'm now thinking it would be a good place to retire (a LONG time from now based upon my retirement investments!)

 

Steve

[Jack Frost]

Steve: A cottage could suit you just fine. I don't think you need a huge deal of thing for your retirement. I'm planning to do that someday in Gasp