I can't say I love living in the country. In fact a lot of physical, and emotional energy has been spent trying to get out of this particular part of country. I don't dislike it though, I can't imagine being packed into a big city, but I also don't want to live in a place where the only interesting thing to do is go to a bar and forget you live in such a place (which i've actually never done, but I've been here long enough to know thats what quite a bit of people do the second they can) This tiny town doesn't have much to offer. Its mostly a desert, with irrigation making farms possible. Anything worth leaving the house for is at least half an hour drive away. I've met people who love it though, they tell me stories of other places they lived and how they couldn't wait to get back. I nod politely but inwardly I'm slightly shocked and wonder what it is they can't wait to get back to. Is it the strip malls full of china buffets and money trees? The endless supply of fast food restaurants (where they've realized they have no competition and have stopped being fast). Maybe its Walmart, the one and only store nearby...It always baffles me. I think for some of them it might just be nostalgia for the place they grew up. I admit, though I wouldn't want to live in Walla Walla, I do like to visit it, and all those streets I know like the back of my hand could do nothing but make me feel at home.
This place surprises me sometimes though. I won't be giving it a second thought and then I'll look out the window and see this huge dramatic sky spreading endlessly over fields. The clouds will be parting just at sunset, and the light will start to pour down on the earth in pools. Highlighting a tree here, and old red barn over there, one of the massive flocks of birds that autumn brings moving to another part of the field. Sometimes I look outside and forget about how much I want to move, because its gone and taken my breath away. Of course then the wind shows up to remind me...
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