RoughCollie Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 (edited) . Edited May 22, 2009 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 I went to get a load, came back, put the basket on the bed, looked up at the window and there was a COW standing there staring at me. We don't raise cows. This was NOT our cow...or the cow of anyone we knew...yet there it was - eating my grass and staring at me. I called my dh and told him and his response was, "what...you didn't order a cow?":glare: What did you do? Ignore it and it went away? Or go outside and tell it to go home? Or call the police? Do cows bite? I'd be happy to see a cow in my yard, as long as I knew it wouldn't bite me. I've never been close up to a cow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 " It was hard getting used to having nothing to do after a while (even the movie theatre in town closed). I got tired of hauling coolers to the nearest grocery store (40 minutes away) every weekend. So I guess we're more surburbanites than rural folk. Yeah, that would be tough. This place isn't rural-rural like yours was. The closest town with everything in it is only 8 miles away, and it's where the public school is. They are a fast 8 miles, too -- here, it would take 30-40 minutes to travel 8 miles to the mall. There, 10 minutes or so I'm told. Traffic congestion, or lack of it, accounts for the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mari Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I think a lot of how happy people is has to do with the culture and the community where they live. It also helps to have friends and relatives close by, which we do not. One of the best things about moving to PA is we will be a lot closer to our relatives and most of our friends -- from 6.5 - 10.5 hours car ride away. The New England culture (Boston area in particular) is very much different from the South, where I am from. In our town, the culture is friendlier than it is in Boston, but on a very superficial level. [Let me hasten to add that in the greater New England area, people are quite friendly in my experience.] We live in a subdivision that has 1/2 acre lots. About 10 ladies showed up at 8 a.m. to gawk at the triplets, the day after we moved in. They had seen them in the yard and were curious. None of them ever spoke to us again, except the friendly lady with the foxes (more about her below). We were here 12 years when the neighbors to the left of us asked me if I still ran a daycare center. They had no idea the kids were ours! Why not? Every time we said hi to them, they ignored us and made their own assumptions. We introduced ourselves to the neighbors on the right, in fact, to all the neighbors. They did not tell us their names, and most of the time when we see them outside, they do not speak when we say hi. There was one friendlier neighbor. She called the police on us. Why? My boys were with some kids in the neighborhood, playing basketball in the cul-de-sac. I was not there because (1) one of the mothers whose house is right there was keeping an eye on things; (2) I could see the cul-de-sac play area from my den window; (3) the boys were 11.5 years old; (4) if the average U.S. city has a crime rate of 100; our town's is 3 (the lower the better). What were the boys doing wrong? This is what the police office told me, and he was not happy that he and two other squad cars had come out to rescue my mentally-challenged little children (that is what they thought they were dealing with). The neighbor said that little children, triplets, were playing in the cul-de-sac. Their mother refused to supervise them. There were foxes in the area. The children were homeschooled because they were "special needs", "retarded", and could not play outside without adult being there. The foxes might attack the children. Mind you, the neighbor lives further away from the cul-de-sac than I do, and the foxes had been living in her yard for years and her kids played in her yard all the time and never got eaten. She was also fully aware that my children are not mentally challenged (except by me). The officer told me the lady was "crazy" and not to worry about it. The kids weren't doing anything wrong, and neither were the other neighborhood kids out there, and neither was I. Since 3 police cars showed up, everyone came out of their houses to talk to the police -- that's how I know for certain there were no complaints or problems. Mind you, the neighbors are not friendly amongst each other either. The only time you see strange cars parked at people's houses is when there is a holiday or a birthday -- it's their relatives. The friendly fox lady is the neighborhood gossip. She talks to everyone and spreads the gossip. I don't talk to her any more at all about anything -- I had her number pretty quickly, so if she said anything about us, she made it up. Bloom where I am planted? No. We have to move now and I'm glad. I have lots more stories to tell, but two examples are enough. Another subdivision? No way, never, if I can possibly prevent that. If I am isolated in a more rural area with no friends or family close by, at least I will have forests to walk in, birds to watch, and friendlier people to deal with. The kids won't be isolated because they have me to drive them around and to encourage them to get involved in activities and to bring their friends home, just like they do now. Is there something wrong with me? Probably, but I could give you references from more than 20 people who have known me well for 15-35 years, who are not relatives, who do not live in this state, and they would would tell you differently. They have been urging us to get out of here for years, even if I have to divorce DH and take the children with me. Now that the sky has fallen in, we are leaving, family intact. Well now, see, if you had included this information in your original post I would have understood more of why you wanted out of your current living situation. I didn't understand your reference to "soccer moms" in your original posts, and in your subsequent ones, it just seemed as if you are craving friendship. Forgive me, but moving away will not guarantee your happiness and you were the one who brought up the concern of making the leap in the first place. Beware, though, there are busy bodies EVERYWHERE, even in rural locations. If you want to move, then move, for goodness sakes! Why live your life with fear? If your husband is truly on board (although your OP stated otherwise), and your family is in tact, then what's the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 g.Okay Newbs, you've lost me. No goats here??? No riding chickens. What did you drink before your nap?:D:D ETA- wait, if you're talking about my avatar that's Hacinta the Arabian, misbehaving. Sorry, Remuda, that'll teach me to look at the forum right after I get up from a nap. Wish I were drinkin. Now I see it better , yesterday, it looked totally different. No more naps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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