Gotta Love a Small Town

There are many advantages to living in a big city. Things like shopping malls, 24-hour grocery stores, Italian restaurants and Super Target are some of the first that come to my mind.

But, there are some very cool things about living in a small town as well. For example, if you're in a hurry to drop something off at someones house, and you happen to be coming from the wrong direction, it's OK to park on the wrong side of the street, or just whip a "U-ie" right there. No biggie. Or if you have a flat tire on a Sunday afternoon, you just call the guy who owns the local gas station/tire store at home to see if he can do you a favor and get a tire for you. Or if you're running late for work in the morning, it's OK. See, you are able to get to most places in under a minute anyway. You can even drink a beer or two with off-duty local law enforcement at an impromptu get-together in the back of the Fire Station, and then just hop in your car and drive the block and a half to get home. No questions asked.

While I was browsing through some pictures of our trip back to Eureka several weeks ago, I discovered a few other things unique to a small town as well.

For one, you can let your 10, 5, and 3 year olds walk home alone in the evening after a nice dinner at the local bowling alley.

Totally unsupervised.


You can't do that just anywhere.


And for another, you can load up your whole family on a trailer full of loose garbage to head on out to the local dump.

My Aunt Debbie, Uncle Charlie and cousins Mitch and Jordan

And don't worry, no one was harmed during this escapade and no litter was lost in the ditches. And if you're thinking that that looks kind of fun...it was!

But in all seriousness...this town is awesome! I have great memories as a kid growing up here, and I know that this is definitely one of my kids' favorite places to visit. It's like a whole new world for them. They're allowed to experience a world of independence and exploration that you just don't get growing up anywhere else.


Kinda makes you want to sing a little John Cougar Mellencamp, doesn't it?