Five Good Things, Five Bad Things

Today I am going to be sharing with you my five good things about a small town, and five bad things about a small town. Since I am still at my parent's house, it is fitting I talk about small town stuff. When I say I grew up in a small town, I mean small. I graduated with about 60 people. The population on our city sign said 1,505 until last year. Dirt roads and one stop light is the norm. Now that I live in Dallas, I can clearly see the positives and negatives in each. Five Good Things About A Small Town 1. The sense of unity. We are like a village. Don't mess with a small Texas town! 2. Your back yard is tons of acres...not a little lot butted up next to your neighbor. You learn about things that city kids have never even heard of. You raise animals and get dirty. You learn to play outside instead of go to the mall or skate-park. Your parents don't worry about where you are because they know you couldn't have gone far. You can walk everywhere and everyone looks out for everyone. 3. You're like a celebrity if you are good at anything. My brother gave a killer (it was seriously amazing!) speech at his graduation on Friday to accept his award as Salutatorian. As we were walking around town on Saturday and Sunday people everywhere were telling him his speech was "the best of the night," and "you have a bright, bright future." Celebrity status. Not to mention his giant mug on the front page of the paper. 4. Fresh peaches and festivals. Seriously. City people who have never had a fresh, off the tree peach don't know what a peach is. Those crappy fake peaches in the store are gee to tha rooosss; gross! And festivals and flea markets. Need I say more? Unique items that are (usually) handmade, compared to items that every other person has, are so much more special.   5. You can see the stars and can't hear a honk or a car unless it's the one in your driveway. It hit me last night; the darkness. Out here in the country, it gets dark. No city lights to distract from God's greatness. No city pollution to fog the air. Crisp (humid), clean air. Stars and silence. It is so, so peaceful.   Five Bad Things About A Small Town 1. Everyone knows everyone. As much as it is a good thing, it is a bad thing. No secrets in this town! And everyone is related...yikes! No blood relatives for me, though! 2. It is far to go anywhere. 20  miles just to go to school, 45 miles (which means well over 45 minutes) to San Antonio or Austin. No Starbucks, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, mall, or chain restaurant. Dairy Queen, Subway, and Sonic are your fast food choices. Impressive, right? Not. 3. There isn't much to do. You can't just decide to go to a movie on a whim, or run to the store to pick something up. Movie dates and trips into the "city" are planned in advance and not just a quick trip. 4. There aren't many jobs. Unless you are a teacher, work at a bank, or own a business...there isn't much for you. Most people travel into San Antonio or Austin for their jobs. Where people in Dallas think a 20 minutes commute is long, people here think a 45 minute commute is short! 5. There isn't much diversity and you don't gain an appreciation for different cultures. Country people are country people. To them, city people are "weird." Many of the people from my town have lived here their entire life and have no sense of the "real" world. To me, there is a whole world out there, but many don't see it that way. As happy as I am to be in the city now, I would never change the fact that I grew up a country girl. I wouldn't trade sleepovers on the trampoline with only crickets sounding, or cows in the back yard for anything. I now have an appreciation for all the things I was eager to escape at 18.