Here is a link to my home town.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lewisport,+KY+42351,+United+States+of+America&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
If any of you actually checked the link you should have been able to tell very, very quickly, Lewisport is a SMALL TOWN. My wife doesn’t even recognize it as a town, just a highway and some houses. More of a community. But it is MY small town.
I haven’t lived there, full-time, since I left for college way back in ’95. But there will always be a special place in my heart for that place. There is just somethings about a small town that you don’t get other places. Here are my top 3 benefits of a place like Lewisport (in no particular order).
1. A love for local sports: With nothing else to entertain the people, local sports, from little league to High school, is all the rave. About every night, you can find a game of some sort somewhere and devoted fans.
2. Being known by first name at the gas station: You go in to the store and everyone yells “Hey Shane.” You never get asked for a picture ID beccause they know you, your parents, your address, and your all your business.
3. Taking a walk means goin’ visiting: When you go for a walk in your neighborhood, you are sure to see someone you know. So you stop and chat. Usually you wave at people, pet dogs, hug babies…all while on a walk. No need for an Ipod.
I could go on and on, but here is the catch. With all these appealing aspects of small town life, I still love living in a larger city. The familiarity and quaintness of a small town are nice, but I need interstates, Imax theaters, musuems, festivals, book stores, and Starbucks. I guess that what makes me an official defector. I left my original country (Lewisport) and have become an immigrant (first in Fort Worth, TX and now in Northern KY).
How long does it take to become a local native in a new land? Who knows?
