As I said, we used to live in Miami.
Bustling, hustling Miami. Warm weather, cool beaches, and so close to the United States it makes traveling back and forth much easier.
Then came a job offer in Smallville. We have gone thought Hurricane Katrina, which blew down our fences, tore up our Chinese Orchid tree, ripped the roof off the house, and just plain made life annoying.
Right after Katrina, we got Rita, who wasn't so bad, but......then came Rita and our neighbors lost roofs and fences and trees.
We decided we'd had enough.
Smallville called and we answered.
I liked it here immediately. Columbia, the nearest big, well big compared to Smallville, city reminds me a great deal of Sacramento, where I grew up. And Smallville is beautiful, historic, old, and friendly. I liked it.
Carlos took longer. Mainly because he grew up in Mexico City and then traded that in for Miami and then downsized to Smallville. It was culture shock for him. He called it country-town for a long time; he railed against the churches and the holier than thou church-goers; he raged about the small town mentality. He just plain didn't like it.
Didn't help that he also hated the job that he took in order to move here.
Fast forward: Carlos no longer works at the hated job, and he no longer works for She Who Will Not Be Mentioned, so he's gown to like Smallville, and Columbia, and Aiken, and a lot of South Carolina.
I always said: Hurricanes or Baptists...which one is really the worst. They're both full of hot air, but only one can take the roof off the house.
Every time we go and visit Keyron's mom and family in NC I'm always astounded by the churches.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, it isn't like the Catholic church isn't dominant here in RI (I have two churches within a half mile of me), it's just that down there its field, trees, field, trees, field, church, repeat ad nauseum.
That's the other thing. Here in RI everything I need, I mean everything, airport, train station, malls, theaters, stores, etc. are within a 10 miles radius. Actually within a 5 mile there's a ton of places and things to do.
In northeastern NC, it's just so spread out. Between his moms place in Edenton to his brothers in Elizabeth city is a 30 mile haul.
In Smallville, the only buildings more prevalent than churches are mortuarys.
ReplyDeleteGo figure!
Tell me about it! I live in a small town in TN. We're near Nashville, thank goodness, which is pretty international actually, and like-minded friends are here, too.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Charleston for three years and enjoy going back for the food. Wish I had some shrimp and grits right now. Friends lived in Columbia for quite a while, and I visited them. It has its charm.
Smallville sounds like a charming town. I like where we live because you have the big city of Philadelphia and then there are the small surrounding towns with charm and character like New Hope. So there always something to do.
ReplyDelete