I've lived in a city possibly once in my entire life, and I was far too young to remember any of it, really. I've spent the rest of my years on this planet dwelling off the beaten path, in the countryside, though a couple of times we've lived in small towns of no more than 1000 people, usually much less. I love it this way..
Every so often we venture into the city.. and I can't handle it. I can't handle the smog, or even the littlest bit of car exhaust. We went in tonight to play pool and my throat is still aching and aggrivated beyond belief! It should be noted that it wasn't even a large, heavily polluted city that I was visiting..
I have nothing against cities, but they just aren't for me. I need my fresh air, my trees, the open fields and the stars at night. I need to hear animals making strange noises outside, and not just raccoons tipping garbage pails over. I need the horses and the tree-shrowded path, and the secret places.. most of all, I need my isolation. Every so often I start to think perhaps I should be spending more time in "civilization", so to speak.. kind of just being, but not alone, and not in my home. Every so often, I venture out.. and when all is said and done, I remember why it is I spend so much time at home. I love it here. I love the horses and the fresh air, the fact that I can actually see the sun set and rise, if I choose to do so.. and the fact that I can walk out my door thirty feet and watch a tiny rabbit scamper into the trees, a dreamy foal trying out its new legs.
I know that some people love the city.. love the busy nature of it all, and some people find beauty in the skyscrapers and the straight-edged buildings. There are people that could never live out of the city.. the convenience and the necessity, to always be doing, moving, swarming like starving bees.. not I.. never, I just couldn't. I just wish that the city didn't seem to be slinking towards me.. spreading out.. moving in.. it seems every day it is just a bit closer, there are just a few more people around then there used to be. I see bits and pieces of the city around me, and I don't like it at all, I don't want more traffic or more houses or more tall buildings. I want trees, sprawling country, bare, grassy hills rather than huge heaps of garbage.
There are of course good things in the city.. things to love about it, for some people.. I'm just not one of them. |
