Monday, June 10, 2013

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. 
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19 comments:

  1. Fun to hear your perspective on the two...I think about moving us to a tiny town sometimes. But we're in the city now, and you can bet your boots my kids say ma'am and sir, and I grew up having sleepovers on trampolines, too. :)

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  2. I can feel ya on some of these. We grew up in a tiny town as well and Wal Mart is all that is there and had to travel over an hour just to get to a mall. But hey, you can't beat the drinks at Sonic so that isn't half bad.

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  3. Cows in the back yard. Awesome. I grew up in a large town and loved it and even slept on trampoline's too! :)

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  4. I have never lived in a small town, this is so interesting! I could imagine it would be super fun!

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  5. love this! I grew up in a small town too! It def. has it's perks but I love the city life for now in my life!

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  6. To go along with your #1 on the bad things, "everyone knows everyone's business" which is why my brother and family moved out of their small town this past weekend. Some things happened that others found out and it just ended up a bad thing amongst the community. They will always hold a special place for it but they needed to get away to get that away from them.

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  7. I grew up in Kerrville, so a little bit bigger than your town, but everything you said is still true. I love it up here in Dallas, the busy lifestyle, but everytime I go back to the Hill Country it pulls me in more!

    -Sarah

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  8. I lived in a small town for a year and the no secrets thing is FOR SURE! It was so fun too though! :)

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  9. LOVE THIS! So wish we could have met up this weekend but, time just didn't allow! We weren't even in town for 48 hours! :( Have a safe drive back today!

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  10. I had sleepovers on my trampoline too.. but in the city. Take me to your hometown.. the flea market and festivals sounds amazing! Perfect place for some real relaxation and un-winding!

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  11. It sounds like we grew up in identical towns, half a country apart!

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  12. haha girrrrllll. 107 people in my hometown. I for sure feel ya, for ever lovin sure. that's why I love cocktails. haha

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  13. What town did you grow up in?! My family is all in Mason and goodness knows I miss it like crazy (even though I didn't technically grow up there)!

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    1. I grew up in Blanco! Mason was in our district for sports!! Y'alls football stadium was and old arena, right?? Been to Mason many, many times!

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  14. I love me a small town. Would live in one my entire life...I guess I kinda have! Lol.
    Great post :)

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  15. We technically live in a "smaller town" and my girl friends love how they can walk out my front door and see the stars at night..I love it too :) However, practically all our neighbors Aaron went to school with!! hahaha

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  16. You are so right! I grew up in a town that seems to be even smaller than yours. There is no stoplight, and there were no fast food places growing up (and still aren't). The "biggest" thing in town is the Dollar General that came in while I was in high school. Middle school and high school, along with Walmart, were about 30 minutes away. I now live in "the city" (~300,000 people) and my parents think I live in NYC :) However, I do miss having some land and some privacy. Our back yard butts up to 3 other peoples.

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  17. I grew up in utopia in the hill country and completely agree with everything you said here!! ;-) its just different in a small town! I miss it there and love going to my parents house. Utopia has no stop light and no chain restaurant/stores of any kind. I've been to/through blanco many times, it is pretty! Even went to a blanco football game once in 2005 :-) probably saw you, lol

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  18. I grew up in utopia in the hill country and completely agree with everything you said here!! ;-) its just different in a small town! I miss it there and love going to my parents house. Utopia has no stop light and no chain restaurant/stores of any kind. I've been to/through blanco many times, it is pretty! Even went to a blanco football game once in 2005 :-) probably saw you, lol

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