Why I LOVE my home.

[asdf2231]

Little village of less than 2,000 people located east of Madison.  Good mix of bedroom community folks and solid middle class mensches. Solid community, great schools. Crime rate so low a snake could pole vault it.

I drive over to the next town to get groceries this afternoon.  The local Piggly Wigglys get pallets of fresh picked sweet corn delivered every day when it is in season. (And ahhhhhhh man I am counting down the minutes till Honey Crisp Apples come in!!!!)

Anyhoo, they were flat out when I got there.  I remembered a farmers wagon/produce stand always being set up in the center of town near the bank and I drove down there and parked in the lot next to it. A lady was sort of buzzing about and she had a bag in her hand so I told her I needed a half dozen ears.  She smiled and told me that as a matter of fact so did she and that the produce stand was self serve.  She pointed out the bags and the cashbox where you stuffed your money.  She also told me that the family that ran it usually staffed it with their kids but that school had started so it was back to the honor system.

We are talking a full hay wagon tricked out with shelves and stocked with everything from hothouse tomatos to squash and everything in between... If a little picked over by the end of the day.

I grab a bag and get my ears of corn and when I go over to where the cash box is welded onto the fender, I see through the top slot that the damn thing is just STUFFED with small bills.  I mean there seriously had to be close to a couple of hundred dollars in there. The lady also told me that the produce stand is a suppliment to the families college fund for the kids. The corn is 4$ for a dozen ears and I stuffed in a fin note for my half dozen just because the whole setup tickled me so much.

The only thing securing the cash box was a cheap master lock, and people just come and shop and pay and it's all done on faith.

I really love the midwest.

[mamacags]

I love the West Central part of PA.  We have crack city not even 10 miles away but the crime rate in our township is really close to 0%.  If it weren't for the D.U.I.s we would be closer to .00001%.  I could go on vacation and leave my doors unlocked and all of my stuff would still be here when I get home.

I can't wait for Honey Crisps either!!!!1111!!!!  They are the best thing since hmmmmmmmmm oh since yellow seedless watermelon straight out of the fridge!  So sweet so juicy so incredibly yummmmmmyyyyyy!

[Chris]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

[morningAngel]

I enjoyed you more when you were sick and miserable 

I love a small town too!  today on the way to the ONE daycare in town to pick up my little bug, I stopped at the local auto parts store to pick up wiper blades.  one guy rang up the debit card and before he was done the other guy in the shop had walked out to my vehicle and put them on for me.  I sneaked out of work for a quiet lunch, just me and a book, the waittress walks over and asks "enjoying a break and having lunch without Lilly?" 
then I came back to work and a 102 year old lady held my hand and hugged me
it don't get no better than that

[Chris_]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

L.A.???  Lower Antioch?   

[Chris]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

L.A.???  Lower Antioch?   

Yeah 

[morningAngel]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

[Chris]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

[morningAngel]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

[Chris]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

My choices for 'backwater' are an hour commute or a pine-infested trailer park in Franklin.

[asdf2231]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

My choices for 'backwater' are an hour commute or a pine-infested trailer park in Franklin.

Vato!

You could be living DOUBLE WIDE large!

Move to the midwest.

People here bread anything you can think of then deep fry it for dinner.

[Lacarnut]

I love my small house since I have completely gutted it and replaced everything from furniture to carpets to appliances and had the inside and outside painted. However, I don't like living in a city as large as Baton Rouge. I plan on moving to a small resort town in Al a few miles from the beach. Orange Beach has a population of just a few thousand; it is very pretty with a lot of palm trees.

[morningAngel]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

My choices for 'backwater' are an hour commute or a pine-infested trailer park in Franklin.

Vato!

You could be living DOUBLE WIDE large!

Move to the midwest.

People here bread anything you can think of then deep fry it for dinner.

as a matter of fact, am making deep fried cheese curds tomorrow, y'all wanna pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and come on over?

[asdf2231]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

My choices for 'backwater' are an hour commute or a pine-infested trailer park in Franklin.

Vato!

You could be living DOUBLE WIDE large!

Move to the midwest.

People here bread anything you can think of then deep fry it for dinner.

as a matter of fact, am making deep fried cheese curds tomorrow, y'all wanna pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and come on over?

I would LOVE to but the commute would kill us.

We are going to have Wisconsin Fondue tonight.

[jtyangel]

Wisconsin Fondue involves cheese and large quantities of breading doesn't it? 


I've lived in both. There are benefits to living in a more populated area with lots of amenities(and crime) versus a smaller one. Both have their pluses. I live in the midwest too(Ohio) and I have to say the thing I don't like is how reserved some of the people are...that said, I walked last night in my neighborhood. It was almost 10 at night and several houses had their main front door wide open and just their screen door which you could see clear through into the house. Couple people had fire pits going and the teens were here and there casually talking to each other by their cars before they embarked on their friday night adventures. Something really special about being able to go out and walk at 10 pm or 5 am and feel safe and enjoy the solitude of those times of day. We have forgotten to close the garage some nights and to lock the doors and things were as they were left. There has been crime here and there though.

In the more moderate times though it is nice to be able to leave downstairs windows open with fans in them.

[NHSparky]

I love my home too--out on a side road north of town, so I get trash service but no city water/sewer (i.e., no bills for that).  Traffic is manageable, lots of critters everywhere (almost hit my third deer this year, all in the same area).

I've left my garage doors open all night with no problems--nothing missing, nobody coming into the house.  Sitting on the back porch late at night with the lights out, you can see a billion times more stars than you could ever hope to see in the city.

What I don't grow myself (some fruits and herbs) I get locally--milk, a really great local bakery, farmers market in town twice a week, to say nothing of the seafood.  A local place (actually Dover) has steak tips that are to DIE for.

Makes me wonder why I took as long as I did getting out of SoCal.

[SaintLouieWoman]

I'm also a fan of the Midwest. I used to be embarassed to not live somewhere more exciting or glamorous, but have found that there's a charm to being able to sometimes go off without locking the doors and return to a house that hasn't been ransacked. Jtyangel is right that the people tend to be reserved, but they still are hospitable. Everyone here seems to be thrilled with SR's Jersey accent. They welcome people from other parts of the country, who don't have the accent-less accent that we have here. 

Living in the actual City of St Louis would be scary, too many break-ins, too many crimes. In my small neighborhood I heard the only crime was across the street, when they left the garage door open and some kids must have come in and stolen a couple six-packs of beer.

We also can walk outside at night. I've had to do that in the past, before SR came here, when Blue had seizures at night and was too wobbly to let out by himself in the back yard. I'd have to walk him a bit.

We're close enough to take advantage of beautiful Forest Park, with the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, Municipal Opera, and all the concerts that come through. I love going to the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Science Center (we have memberships at both).

The other good thing about the Midwest is we're in the center of the country, so we can easily travel anywhere fairly quickly. I also love the rolling hills with the scenic wineries around here. It's not the cultural wasteland that folks on the coast think it is.

ASDF, your area is beautiful, except you have too many libs in Madison. 

[GOBUCKS]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

If it's the Lower Antioch I think it is, you need a Gore-model houseboat at Four Corners.

[Chris_]

I'm also a fan of the Midwest. I used to be embarassed to not live somewhere more exciting or glamorous, but have found that there's a charm to being able to sometimes go off without locking the doors and return to a house that hasn't been ransacked. Jtyangel is right that the people tend to be reserved, but they still are hospitable. Everyone here seems to be thrilled with SR's Jersey accent. They welcome people from other parts of the country, who don't have the accent-less accent that we have here. 

Living in the actual City of St Louis would be scary, too many break-ins, too many crimes. In my small neighborhood I heard the only crime was across the street, when they left the garage door open and some kids must have come in and stolen a couple six-packs of beer.

We also can walk outside at night. I've had to do that in the past, before SR came here, when Blue had seizures at night and was too wobbly to let out by himself in the back yard. I'd have to walk him a bit.

We're close enough to take advantage of beautiful Forest Park, with the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, Municipal Opera, and all the concerts that come through. I love going to the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Science Center (we have memberships at both).

The other good thing about the Midwest is we're in the center of the country, so we can easily travel anywhere fairly quickly. I also love the rolling hills with the scenic wineries around here. It's not the cultural wasteland that folks on the coast think it is.

ASDF, your area is beautiful, except you have too many libs in Madison. 

I completely agree with you SLW, I was born in STL, our home was two blocks from Tower Grove Park......since then my wife and I have lived in twelve other American cities (some twice), and 8 countries overseas.

We returned to Missouri seven years ago (KC area), and we have no intention of moving again, unless it is down to Table Rock Lake........

doc

[Chris_]

Anyhoo, they were flat out when I got there.  I remembered a farmers wagon/produce stand always being set up in the center of town near the bank and I drove down there and parked in the lot next to it. A lady was sort of buzzing about and she had a bag in her hand so I told her I needed a half dozen ears.  She smiled and told me that as a matter of fact so did she and that the produce stand was self serve.  She pointed out the bags and the cashbox where you stuffed your money.  She also told me that the family that ran it usually staffed it with their kids but that school had started so it was back to the honor system.

HAH!  A backwoods corn bouncy if I ever read one!

;)

[morningAngel]

I hate my neighborhood. I'm five minutes from el Barrio, the ghetto, or White Trashistan.  There's a fire station less than a mile down the highway and if there's a fire somewhere, I get to hear them coming and going.  Not to mention the various robberies, beatings, and home invasions that go on.  And there's the occasional homocide like the one at the gas station last week. 

I wish I could afford to live in the middle of nowhere, but I have to work.

that sucks.  you probably gotta lock your doors huh?

The door locks are worthless.  Found that out back in August.

insane!  you need to find a nice backwater like mine

My choices for 'backwater' are an hour commute or a pine-infested trailer park in Franklin.

Vato!

You could be living DOUBLE WIDE large!

Move to the midwest.

People here bread anything you can think of then deep fry it for dinner.

as a matter of fact, am making deep fried cheese curds tomorrow, y'all wanna pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and come on over?

I would LOVE to but the commute would kill us.

We are going to have Wisconsin Fondue tonight.

anyone not willing to put some effort into it, doesn't deserve hot deep fat fried cheese curds 

[asdf2231]

Anyhoo, they were flat out when I got there.  I remembered a farmers wagon/produce stand always being set up in the center of town near the bank and I drove down there and parked in the lot next to it. A lady was sort of buzzing about and she had a bag in her hand so I told her I needed a half dozen ears.  She smiled and told me that as a matter of fact so did she and that the produce stand was self serve.  She pointed out the bags and the cashbox where you stuffed your money.  She also told me that the family that ran it usually staffed it with their kids but that school had started so it was back to the honor system.

HAH!  A backwoods corn bouncy if I ever read one!

HEY!

I was going to post about the cop jumping out of the bushes later!

[jinxmchue]

My little city has a meth problem.  Almost every week, there are reports in the police log about car break-ins and the like.  A cash box like freedumb described wouldn't last a day, which is a pity because it's otherwise a nice town.

[SaintLouieWoman]

I'm also a fan of the Midwest. I used to be embarassed to not live somewhere more exciting or glamorous, but have found that there's a charm to being able to sometimes go off without locking the doors and return to a house that hasn't been ransacked. Jtyangel is right that the people tend to be reserved, but they still are hospitable. Everyone here seems to be thrilled with SR's Jersey accent. They welcome people from other parts of the country, who don't have the accent-less accent that we have here. 

Living in the actual City of St Louis would be scary, too many break-ins, too many crimes. In my small neighborhood I heard the only crime was across the street, when they left the garage door open and some kids must have come in and stolen a couple six-packs of beer.

We also can walk outside at night. I've had to do that in the past, before SR came here, when Blue had seizures at night and was too wobbly to let out by himself in the back yard. I'd have to walk him a bit.

We're close enough to take advantage of beautiful Forest Park, with the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, Municipal Opera, and all the concerts that come through. I love going to the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Science Center (we have memberships at both).

The other good thing about the Midwest is we're in the center of the country, so we can easily travel anywhere fairly quickly. I also love the rolling hills with the scenic wineries around here. It's not the cultural wasteland that folks on the coast think it is.

ASDF, your area is beautiful, except you have too many libs in Madison. 

I completely agree with you SLW, I was born in STL, our home was two blocks from Tower Grove Park......since then my wife and I have lived in twelve other American cities (some twice), and 8 countries overseas.

We returned to Missouri seven years ago (KC area), and we have no intention of moving again, unless it is down to Table Rock Lake........

doc

I like KC. I love their barbeque, especially Arthur Bryant's and Gates. I was wondering if the Smokehouse is good, or is it just a chain? Today in the mail we got a KC travel magazine, with a bunch of coupons. I'd like to drive there in the spring or early summer next year.

Tower Grove is a lovely park. I particularly love going to the Mo. Botanical Garden (Shaw's Garden).

Where else did you live?

[Doc]

I like KC. I love their barbeque, especially Arthur Bryant's and Gates. I was wondering if the Smokehouse is good, or is it just a chain? Today in the mail we got a KC travel magazine, with a bunch of coupons. I'd like to drive there in the spring or early summer next year.

Tower Grove is a lovely park. I particularly love going to the Mo. Botanical Garden (Shaw's Garden).

Where else did you live?

Smokehouse is sort of a chain.......there is no substitute for Arthur Bryants, its the best.......

Geez, let's see....we've lived in NYC area (twice), Chicago, Detriot (northern surburbs, also twice), Louisville, KY (also twice), Los Angeles area (Ventura County), St. Louis area (Not including childhood, Illinois side), Minneapolis, St. Petersburg, FL, Washington DC area (Fairfax, VA), Martinsburg, WVA, Indianapolis, IN (Franklin, IN, south of town), and Phoenix, AZ (Scottsdale area), and now Kansas City.

Overseas, we have lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Capetown, Melborne, Aus, just outside of London  (Chelmsford, Essex), Rome, Athens, and a short assignment in St. Petersburg, RU.........

That said, I married my High School sweetheart, and we both come from a small town in the middle of Missouri, about twenty miles from Columbia.......we still have a family farm there, where my 92 YO mother-in-law still resides, so our roots have always been here in MO,  and now that we are nearing retirement (for  the second or third time.......I just can't seem to stay retired).....we are unlikely to leave.

doc