Several years ago, A. and I watched a documentary about cowboys in Texas. I think it was cowboys. At any rate, it was definitely about people living in rural Texas.
I've obviously forgotten almost everything about that documentary except this young guy who said he could never live in a city, because (cue heeeeaavy Texas drawl), "All them lights."
It has become a running joke between A. and me. We say it a lot. And we have a lot of opportunity to say it, given the fact that we live somewhere with almost no outside lights for miles.
In fact, yesterday was the first time in five months that I've seen a traffic light.
Does that seem impossible to you? Yeah. It was kind of surprising to me too when I realized it, but it's definitely true.
See, there are no traffic lights in our county, and, due to the world's descent into craziness, I have not left our county since March. A. has been our designated Outside World representative all that time, since I really had no desire to drive 90 miles just to make my children wear masks and fail to distance themselves from other people.
So we haven't left the county. And honestly, I didn't think much about it until yesterday when we drove to one of the tiny cities so Charlie could get a vaccination for school.
Everyone else came, too. My plan was for A. to watch the kids at the park while they ate their picnic lunch and I went to the grocery store.
And that is how I found myself driving in actual traffic with actual lights for the first time in half a year.
It took me an hour and a half to get through my shopping--mostly due to the quantity of food I buy at one time--and we discovered that's about the amount of time the children actually want to stay at a playground. We never let them stay that long, so we didn't know that's when they finally reach playground satiety, but they were ready to get in the car by the time I got back to them.
I was ready to get in the car and come home, too. All them lights, you know.
7 comments:
Gosh, it's nice to choose one's own groceries. No neckbones, presumably.
I did actual city driving last week for the first time in ... um, years ... at least four years. Didn't kill anyone, nor offend with a minor accident. Even, with great reluctance, after one wrong turn, allowed the phone to lead me around. Wanted a nap afterward.
Karen.
Until my aunt (my father's sister) got married, she had been living in suburbs. On her wedding night she went to her new husband's home, which was out in the sticks. She'd been there before, but never after dark. There was no moon that night. She went outside to see the stars - sounds good so far, right? But it was so dark that she started hyperventilating.
Thank goodness for light and dark.
Sanity in a insane time. As soon as you get used to what just happen anther thing happens. Is this someone's plan to keep us in upheaval?
Stop it now, I say. I am tired of being upheavaled!
If I am on heaval I can see all that is going on .
Karen.: No one normal would call this "city" driving. This "city" has a population of about 4,000 people. It was just . . . traffic. Traffic lights and a couple of lanes. Nothing shocking, unless you're coming from here. :-)
Drew: I could see how that could be unnerving, being a former suburbanite myself.
G.P.: 2020--The year of upheaval. Sounds about right.
Food shopping for the masses pandemic style. We live in interesting times. You need a Costco, everything is in large packages and really cheap. I hope you have enough stocked for at least a month and you got some special treats for yourself.
So they are going to have in person school in your area? They were here until a couple of weeks ago when they changed back to online only. Parents I've spoken to are resigned, but tired of it all. Hard to work and try to teach your kids at the same time.
Oh, I know — also, because former resident geography awareness, I feel like I know (within a couple towns) where you were. ... I was in Colorado Springs, so around eleventy thousand more traffic lights and all the people to match. :)
Karen.
Sheila: I wish we did have a Costco, but the nearest one is more than a three-hour drive. So . . . no. As of now, our school is starting in-person on Aug. 17th. The student body is small enough to comply with the governor's requirements for in-person classes for elementary students. I wouldn't be surprised if everything got entirely shut down again, though. I'll believe in-person school when we're there.
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