We moved to the city about eleven years ago (apologies to my friends in LA and New York) so we could take advantage of all of the things we kept coming here to enjoy. I don’t think we’ll ever completely work the country out of our souls, however. Living almost fifty years in small towns makes it hard to “erase” those conditionings.
Don’t get me wrong. We were ready for a change. The boys were both out of high school. I needed to change jobs. We were looking to the future (retirement looked like it would be possible much earlier then). It seemed like we headed to Omaha every weekend anyway for shopping or the theatre or a concert or something. I thought I’d be in heaven with all the golf courses from which to choose!
It is nice to have friends and relatives come and “vacation” with us now and then. We’ve been in the right place as emergencies have arisen and family members have ended up in the hospitals here. Both boys are here, and now we have two grandsons, as well. It’s nice to be close. We do get to the movies once in a while and enjoy the opportunities and variety for shopping. Everything we think we need is nearby. We typically go out to hear live music at least once a week, especially with son Matthew making a name for himself with his songwriting and solid band.
Some things aren’t quite what we had hoped, though. All of these golf courses cost quite a bit more than the annual membership I was paying for Shenandoah’s great 18-hole course. All of our friends are back there, too, and although we see them fairly often, there aren’t the drop-in visits or spur-of-the-moment get-togethers that were so much fun (especially on football Saturdays!).
One of the things that I’ve been noticing more and more lately is the noise. I miss the “quiet” of small towns and countrysides. Sitting on my deck now I hear the emergency sirens of the fire station a couple of blocks away and the roar of tires on West Maple Street…tens of thousands of tires each day—and night. These are the sounds that have replaced the morning bird songs and coyotes’ midnight yelpings, foxes’ barking, or owls’ hooting.
I don’t know if we can find an in between. The reasons we came here are still good reasons, and they become moreso the older we are. I’d hate to be even another half hour away from our grandsons. We’re already going to T-ball games this summer. I’ll just have to make more time to visit the many parks in the area and make the reverse trip back to the country now and then…and the Welcome mat is always out for family and friends. I guess I’ll go feed the birds and sit on the deck. Come join me.
