Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The City Mouse and The Country Mouse

The majority of my recent adult life I have lived in the suburbs and most recently I have lived in the city...or within walking distance of one of the city centers. I enjoyed the ability to be able to walk to a large movie theater and safely walk home after seeing the movie. I enjoyed being able to walk to restaurants, and even better, being able to visit a large Borders Book store and waste away a Sunday afternoon.

Then we started and finished that epic part of our lives where we built the cliche retirement home in the country. We are so far into the country that,
if I have my bedroom windows open, I hear roosters crowing in the distance in the early morning. I hear strange noises in the night such as large limbs falling from trees in the ravine or screech owls as the dawn breaks. Yes, living in the woods is just as noisy as living in the city.

I love the country, but schizophrenic soul that I am, I also miss the city. I miss the restaurants and plays and museums and little stores for shopping. Last year we learned that our small town, which consisted primarily of a brand new post office, a corner gas station, a liquor store, and the elementary school, was going to build a new shopping center...actually two little centers within a quarter mile of each other. These were not malls, but traditional shopping centers: one anchored by a SuperGiant grocery. It has been exciting watching the one area go up with a doughnut shop, a cleaners, a pharmacy, a steak and ale house, a small exercise gym, a real estate office, a nic-nac shop and a second liquor store among others.

The second and slightly larger shopping area started with a Starbucks! This got me excited but in the year it has been open, I have driven by each time on my way to the post office and not stopped once. This second center, which is just down the road, added the Giant grocery, a Food Shoppers grocery, another cleaners, two pizza restaurants(!), another pharmacy, another liquor store, another doughnut shop--this one with an ice cream wing, two mexican restaurants, one Korean restaurant (totally awful food and terrible service), one Japanese/Chinese restaurant (serving even worse food in a clinical plastic table atmosphere), and a paint store. There are several finished buildings waiting to be leased, but I have long since given up any interest.

Is this a country thing? What economics planning went into this development? This is a rural community, although with a nearby military base and all the resulting contracting companies, a nearby atomic energy plant that is adding another reactor, and a growing community of city retirees---I don't view this as a typical rural community.

I drive by a large dirt filled area behind the new bank and hold my breath while wishing for a movie theater with a wine/beer/cheese bar attached and a little second hand bookstore on the side or a branch of the library which is 12 miles away. I also would love a non-chain restaurant that serves interesting and healthy food.

Yes, I know. If I want all this I should move back to the city.

9 comments:

  1. Tabor, thank you for comment on my online journal. Oh yes we are the opposite of where we were.
    I am going to post something longer. I do miss the country life but am getting use to city. The one differance is my first country home is still isolated. I loved it but everyone that would visit would say "how can you be out here and be so isolated"
    Nothing can replace the continual
    time with these two little granddaughters.
    I misplaced your email address. If you feel comfortable sending it to me. enlawsontn@aol.com.
    Out the door for a day of errands.

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  2. Oh, I love this post. The first fifty-two years of my life I was a city mouse. The last ten years I have been a country mouse and have gone from fearing snakes to naming them:-)

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  3. The grass is always greener! LOL

    I have always lived in the burbs, but when my daughter lived in NYC and we visited, I got very used to the fact that I only had to go down the elevator and walk across the street to get food or coffee, books, mags, etc. I decided, if I could afford it, I'd move to NYC tomorrow! Guess what? I cannot afford it....LOL

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  4. I am a country mouse at heart and would love to move back to the country.
    We are hoping that the real estate market picks up soon so we can sell our city house and move into a country home.
    This is how I feel
    city=house
    country=home.

    Bear((( )))

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  5. Watch out!! WAL-MART is next then come the developers and VOILA!!!! you are back in the city and have not moved an inch!! Pity that.

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  6. lol at mary lou who is, of course, correct!

    thanks tabor for the info on pesto and preserving basil yummmm - i love it so much that i must try.

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  7. I have been both a city and a country mouse, but now I am happy as a town mouse!
    Saw your article on freezing basil (just found your blog today) and I do mine in little ziploc bags. When I want some pesto, I break off a piece or two as needed, and they thaw in quick time. Put the pesto in the bag and flatten as much as possible! This is also a great way to freeze that left over 14 ozs or so of tomatoe paste that you opened for the recipe that needed only 2 Tbsps!
    Glad I found your blog!

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  8. Love this post, Tabor! It make me think so much about my current life... I am a city mouse and a also I am a country mouse... sometimes one, sometimes another... What can I do? Lol!

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  9. Anonymous9:22 AM

    Funny, I've lived out in the sticks (that means woods) for over twenty years and now think about living in town to be close to everything. Also, while in Mass recently I was jealous over their public transportation which we don't have here. I could live on my little hometown peninsula and go to Boston by bus, train, or boat whenever.

    I wish for an indoor pool.

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