by K L Humphreys

Created on: June 29, 2009

I have always lived in small town USA, but never thought too much about it until I moved to the deep south.

I was warned by a family member the "hot" I was used to was mellowed out by mountains, trees and rivers. Where I was going was a mixture of sand, pine trees and the beaches.

You might think that this combination would be enough to balance the humidity, but it's not. It crossed my mind this morning as I went out to hang out some wet laundry that some folks have to brave the bitter cold winters in the north, but here in the deep south it's a different type of bravery.

Not only do you have to wear an enormous amount of bug repellent, but you have to be quick with your chores. Your glasses fog up and you cannot see. The mugginess is enough to interfere with your breathing, and the perspiration quickly drips into your eyes making it nearly impossible to see when your glasses clear.

The next interesting fact I learned was you never talk about anyone in small towns, because everyone is related, unless you're an outsider. Then it doesn't matter because you are not accepted as a true member of your new small town.

Small town people will smile politely, and even speak to you in public, which is limited due to the fact there are few places to meet and talk. Now you can go to one of the fifty churches and have some time together, but most folks gather with family members and go eat.

I think the idea about my small town is it seems to be in time warp of about 50 years. We have modern conveniences, but when the recession hit the country our small town remained the same.

Folks don't move away from our small town very often they just travel to other bigger towns to shop and vacation. My small town is about 35 miles from everywhere, but 35 miles from nowhere. It was a bit different at first, but I have gotten used to the five miles to town and if I want more I travel 35 miles to wherever.

Finally I live on a dead end dirt road in the pine forest, and it's wonderful! No through traffic or kids going through your property on bikes or skateboards. Our neighbors are few, and we speak to each other while going in and out, of our dirt road.

So we entertain ourselves by feeding the many varieties of birds than come to our yard. They are not concerned whether we are related to anyone or if we have lived here all our lives. They just want us to feed and water them, and live contented and peaceful lives as we do.

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