Having spent my childhood years growing up on dirt roads and gravel roads in areas of rural poverty, I find that trips to rural areas tend to send me on trips down memory lane. I find these trips to be in many ways full of mixed feelings that are often difficult to untangle. There are, after all, things I greatly appreciate about the country. I dislike being crowded and like open spaces; I love the sight of trees, of meadows, of hills and mountains, of rivers and creeks, and of wild and domesticated animals in some sort of pastoral scene. Rural areas, or exurban areas (that is, those areas that are outside of the suburbs where people tend to go who desire more space than that allowed in subdivisions) do have a lot to offer. I can understand without any difficulty what leads someone to accept a lengthy commute to a job or a life that may seem somewhat circumscribed by living in a small town, simply for the cause of having their own land and some peace and quiet.

For me, though, there are other concerns that always intrude upon these scenes of pastoral peace and happiness. For one, I cannot see such scenes without being reminded of the years of my childhood. These are not pleasant reminders, even though gravel roads and the sight of playful birds and babbling brooks have no blame or responsibility for any of that. The slower pace and lower noise of creation in rural areas allows people to inhabit their own head without a great many distractions. For me, that can be a positively terrifying sort of experience, even if I relish the more relaxed pace of such areas as being vastly less anxious, all other things being equal (which, sadly, they never are). I guess it can be said, perhaps most simply, that I am simply not in the place where I can yet appreciate the beauty of living out in the country. Perhaps that time will come when I can think on the pleasant things, and not on the unpleasant associations.

There are many people I know who have lived long in the country and who have appreciated the open spaces (enough room to ride horses, something I would like to do more of) and not having other people so closeby. Having always longed for my own castle to have as a safe demense, I can certainly understand the appeal of living in the country. For many people the present world is simply too hurried, too crowded, and too artificial. As someone whose intellectual and cultural interests depend on having some concentration of people (at least in general), I have found the rural places I have lived to make themselves unwelcome to someone of my personality and inclinations. Perhaps that will not always be the case, and if I find such an odd and welcoming area, I will be sure to appreciate it and write about it. For those of my friends who live in rural or exurban areas (that is to say, small towns or villages or the outlying areas beyond them), I would like to know what about those areas makes you feel comfortable and at home there. What sort of people do you all welcome as guests and friends and neighbors? What do you think about city life or suburban life? I am curious to know, as my experience in living in the country was such that I was all too eager to leave, even despite the fact that I found much about it to enjoy.