Small Town Charm
Over the past 6 years that I have lived in Kirksville, I have come to accept that I have grown to love this place. Growing up in a big city, attending a large high school, and having all the luxuries of big city life always apealed to me until I knew something different.
For those of you who have spent a significant amount of time in the 'ville, you know what I'm talking about. When I first came to college, I was mortified at the thought of spending 4 years here and thought about transferring many times during that first year and a half. I could not get beyond my college bubble or get past my upper middle class upbringing to really value what the town had to offer. The small town life has it's charm and beauty. Now that I am working here and have established friendships and connections throughout the community, I love it.
I love being able to go out to a store and run into someone I know from the community. I love that everyone here is on a slower pace than the rest of the world. I love that I don't feel like i have to "keep up with the Jones's" and worry about what's in style. I feel like it's much easier to live a life of simplicity. Whenever I go to St. Louis or Kansas City for a visit, I am amazed at the pace of life and amazed at how quickly I have forgotten what it's like to live like that.
I do miss shopping malls, good restaurants, and shorter drives to places but I don't miss the hustle and bustle of the big cities, the demand to keep up with society, or the 45 minute commute to work. I love the town square, the crazy language people use here, friends who live on acreage, being able to see the big and little dippers as well as the milky way, visiting mennonite and amish farms, farmer's market, El Vaquero, everyone knowing everyone's business and taking care of one another.
I don't say that I will never live in a big city again but I can say I have come to appreciate and even love small town life. I wouldn't mind settling down on some acreage with a few lab dogs that roam the countryside and the nearest neighbor being a mile away. That just doesn't sound too bad.
posted by Sam at 9:20 PM
7 Comments:
Oh, the lives we lead. I certainly had no intention of going to Truman either. As I recall, I filled out the application only because they sent me 5 of them and I figured that was the easiest way to stop them from cluttering up my mailbox. Then, when I had to leave Wheaton, I decided to go to TSU because my best friend was there. And you see, it worked out for the best for all of us! Who would have thought...
I came to really love Kirksville, too. Not Truman, necessarily, but definitely Kirksville. I loved the wide open fields and going running out in the country, stopping to feed "my horses," swinging in the hammock in my huge backyard, going to Wal-Mart at 4 a.m. when I couldn't sleep and feeling perfectly safe, going for long drives in the twilight, and running all by myself in Thousand Hills State Park right after it snowed. Those are things you can't pay for in a city. And I wonder, too, if some of the friendships we forged had a different, more staying or simplistic quality because they were made there.
I completely agree about loving Kirksville and hating Truman...as probably everyone knows. Have you been up here since they remodeled Wal-Mart? And i think you may be right about the simplicity of the town helping to build stronger friendships because there were not the distractions of the big city. We all had to find our own fun and that usually involved driving out to the lake or ski resort late at night and watching meteor showers or having campfires...or for some of the more dangerous of the crew, driving on railroad tracks and getting hit by a train. . . whatever your choice of fun, it usually involved a group of people, who you built lasting memories with.
OK, so the kirksville logo turned out a litttttle bigger than anticipated...and it may be illegal usage of it...my small town love may turn into a small town crime...
Oh well, at least everyone who sees your mug in the "Wanted" signs will know you by name.
Well, I was just in town on Saturday night for a reunion with everybody at El Vaq, but the trip was too short (2 or 3 hours) to visit the World's Best Wal-Mart. Maybe another time!
i have appreciated your comments on the simplicity and benefits of living in a small community. it sounds like it was a great place for you to get involved! i wonder if part of the k-ville "feel" also has to do with the region or location of it in missouri. in college i also lived in a small town but didn't get the same simplistic, slow pace that you all experienced. so i wonder if the culture of the city also needs to enter this discussion...k-ville is more farming area and shawnee was more ??? i am not sure how to characterize it....
anyways, i didn't like my small town and i think i am still a city girl and although would love to spend some time away from the city...not for long.
I think that you are right but I also know that most of the time during college, I didn't really appreciate the town. I think it may have some to do with getting to know the town, the people, and just the community within. I think it helped me once I started working with people from the community and getting to know them more than "townies". I think I initially looked down on the people of town because they were different from anything I'd ever known.
Uh, I'm also NOT saying that if you don't like small town life then examine your heart because you must be wrong somewhere. I know it might sound like I was saying that if you really get to know the community then you will fall in love with it. That is not necessarily the case, just my experienc. It's perfectly ok to be a city girl. Or somewhere in between
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