Last evening I was going stir-crazy. Not having a car while one’s without a muffler and the other’s in the body shop is awful when you have an infant and a toddler, and a bus or bike’s out of the question. So we socked it to the oil speculators, piled into our little rental Mazda and hit the road. Grabbed some eCreamery gelato and headed north on 52nd Street, all the way outta town. Drove through Fort Calhoun and saw kids hanging out at the ice cream stand, saw the high school football field (imagined friday night lights in the fall) and spotted a little league game in progress. It was after weaving through the town streets to watch the game for a minute that Michael confessed he’d love to live in the country someday – not way out in the sticks, but half an hour from the city wouldn’t be that bad, would it?
Um, er.
Though there is something to say about being able to stretch your legs and your mind in the wide-open air. Extend your arms without bumping anyone’s elbows. Let the kids explore the great outdoors on a daily basis. Being a little closer to ‘nature’. Having a little homestead. Maybe that’s the pioneer in me. Seeing four deer on our way home and the thrill Reese got as she craned her neck to watch them disappear into the corn had me almost convinced. That and driving up by north River Road. Love that spot.
Stay tuned. This sounds like an episode of ‘Green Acres’…you can take the girl out of the city, but can you really take the city out of the girl? Sometimes I like bumping elbows with the masses.
lions under oaks 
Hey, I think that pioneer blood came from this side of the fam…buy it and I’m buying the place down the road…Michael, you need a pickup truck and you won’t want to stay in the city….something about the gravel dusk blowing behind you and the smell of money(if you know what I mean) in your nostrils. Oh yeh, don’t forget the county fairs and occasional trip to the blue water!
I’d love to live outside the city, I miss it. Though we had the train tracks near us, it was still very peaceful there, enough space to run around in, here if you wanted to run in someones yard it would be a pretty tight circle! But apparently that’s the trend these days, moving out of the city again… the Street of Dreams was 7 miles north of Omaha.
oh, if only my husband would make those comments…I’d make him stick to them! Granted, I would have to get better about not needing to run to the store every day and not just popping in at a friend’s house when I’m bored, but I think there’s something about the country that is good for the soul. (Of course, you knew I’d say something like that 🙂 Sounds like you need a good dose of Tim McGraw and others, at the very least 🙂 Maybe if you moved out there, we could move to the house down the road. How perfect would that be!
jane, let me sweeten the pot: michael wants to buy land and build his prefab-modern-glass-and-concrete home on it. ha. i’ll save an acre for you guys. ha.
oh, and kate – we saw one lot out there (a measly acre) just around the corner from the street of dreams! ha! ‘rockin the suburbs’ comes to mind, and i cringe. HA!
Uh…come visit me in Chi? 🙂 Don’t get me wrong. I love a good scenic drive, but living? I just don’t know about that…
the realities of living in a country town or in the “country” are harsh. you are required to rethink everything you do on the basis of efficiency.
that said, it’s not so bad! 😉
we grew up in the country. a word to the wise: the experience is only as good as the local population. if your fellow country dwellers are weird, it’s a lot worse than having a few weird friends in the city. sometime ask me or ali about the allens, kubrs, and dartings.
living outside of city limits with the deer, and absolutely lovin’ it!!!
(There is a lot for sale near us…and, really, is a 2 1/2 hour commute that bad???)
Still missin’ you guys!!
i thought about the neighbor thing…so maybe i’ll just start a rural commune, by invite only. then again, chicago….ah. we’ll live in the country, vacation in the city. HA. the grass is always greener, eh?
miss you too, amy!