Thursday, September 2, 2010

city mouse

Yesterday was spent in the company of friends who live out in the country. They are a few miles from a quaint village and there are farms around to provide a faint (or more) whiff of animals. And eggs and corn and fresh tomatoes. There are neighbours close by, but the trees and hills provide enough cover that you may completely forget they are there. Straight down the road about 20 minutes away is a city that is one of the fastest growing in Ontario. And from there it is a short commute into the largest city in Canada.

Except for the cicadas and crickets and a few frogs, it was eerily quiet. A whole different world existed beyond the suburban crawl. I got almost giddy at the thought of coming back for their Fall Fair which is 160 years old this year. There is an annual Christmas Tree Lighting that attracts thousands of people! It all sounds so quaint. Bucolic. (though, doesn't that word have an awful sound to it? more like some kind of nasty disease instead of a pastoral poem)

These friends are moving next winter and have sold their house to people they suspect will not last long. They have no idea what living in the country will be like. I know that I would hate it, no matter how lovely and inviting it seems on a visit. I know that deep down, I am a city woman. I am also a bit lazy. I like not having to drive 15 minutes or more just to get condiments or coffee. Although, it has been pointed out that walking the 15 minutes to the stores is not lazy. I think it must be a perception of distance thing. I can sit and stare out a window with the best of them, but after awhile I need the stimulation of shops and street life and theatres and galleries close by for my amusement. It is fun to people watch when when you never know who you are going to run into and then there is the surprise of running into someone you know. In a village, the chances of running into the same people day after day might get a little claustrophobic. I like not having to worry about curling shingles, burst pipes and septic tanks. And snow drifts blocking a long unmaintained lane. And the worry of bears.
But every now and then, I wonder... if I had the money to buy exactly what I wanted and to maintain it properly... if I had a live-in gardener and a riding snowblower and a few chickens and a dog to scare the foxes would I change my lifestyle? Would I be happy with the constant quiet, or would I sink into a depression from the isolation? Would I feel a desolation wash over me when I realized the main street of the village was empty streets with shuttered stores at 5PM. My turtle might be happy to have a pond instead of an aquarium, but would he get along with the frogs?

Where I live now is not perfect. Most of you know that I live in a highrise. I may not have a yard, but I do have a rather large balcony. And a great view! The advantages are that I can call management to fix the plumbing. I can lock the door, give the key to a neighbour to watch the cat and water the plants and she does not even put on a coat (in winter). I am mere minutes from the lake and the downtown core, yet is very quiet. The traffic would be my number one complaint - it is there and constant, even if I don't hear it. And I would like to walk out my door and be outside, not in a hallway waiting for an elevator.

But these are minor quibbles. I would like to know what you like and dislike about where you have chosen to live. And if you had the chance, would you move into the city from the country or out to a farming community from a urban area?

20 comments:

  1. i'm definitely a city girl, which makes the country a beautiful visit for me.

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  2. Char: that's interesting, I had you pegged for the county!

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  3. I took an online quiz about where you should live and it pretty much said I should live exactly where I live (large urban metroplex suburb). Secretly I would really love to live in NYC. The country? NO. Being out in the middle of nowhere gives me the heebie jeebs. I don't even like small towns. I guess it's good though that everyone is differnt, or we'd all be mooshed in on one place.

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  4. We considered moving a couple of years ago before the housing market went haywire. On balance, we're glad we stayed here - we have countryside within easy reach but are close to market towns and not far from London. Stuck in the middle of nowhere sounds wonderful on a warm day in good health and the prime of life - not so good when locked in by snow, wind, accident, illness. The biggest deciding factor is that we are not far from our children. The furthest away is an hour and a half.

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  5. I have never been a city girl...though I have always wondered if I would like it. I live in a rural area with lots of property around me and neighbors far away who have horses. It is quite and peaceful and has beautiful mountain views. I love it...but one thing I do dislike is the winters. I hate the snow...I hate driving in it and worrying about getting trapped in the house during a blizzard. This I could do without!! Everything else is idyllic!!
    I think I am moving south! Ha!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  6. I live in the city and have a house in the country. I don't think I could do the country thing full time though, I'm definitely a city girl at heart. If think I could live in the country if I spent all my weekends in town - exactly the opposite of what I do now. The one place I could never live is the suburbs. I spent way too much time there as a youngster.

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  7. I love living in the country...a country girl I was born, and a country girl I will always be. I like the solitude and freedom to do what I want in my own large space. I like quiet and peaceful and dislike noise and discord. In fact, I think I would be just fine in a remote cabin with no cable, no internet...nothing but books and my animals. However, I do like to visit the hustle and bustle every now and then, but not for very long. And I'm always the happiest when I arrive back in my own driveway.

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  8. Being totally the opposite to you, a country bumpkin, I can also understand what you are saying here. I used to live near towns before I moved to the country and I had all the shops etc on my doorstep. But I haven't missed that since being here, even though I sometimes get frustrated at the lack of entertainment closeby.

    CJ xx

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  9. Geewits: I grew up in the suburbs, which was really like a small town in many ways. I appreciate it more now than when I was in my 20s.
    I have to make my annual pilgrimage to NYC to (almost) satisfy my urge to live there!

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  10. Jabblog: being close to family and friends is a great deciding factor. and you also have the advantage of several different market towns to visit when the mood/need strikes. My cousin lives not far from you and I fall in love every time I visit.

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  11. SueAnn: I suspect the city would drive you mad soon enough with so many neighbours overlooking your space! I don't mind the snow so much as the ice.

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  12. Jazz: I do believe you have the BEST living arrangement!

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  13. Susan: hey, welcome back!
    I spent a long weekend at a cottage with no tv or internet (or radio even!)and I actually felt a teeny bit panicky!! it was so solidy dark outside (and unfortunately cloudy so I didn't even get the benefit of a starry night) but I'm sure I would get more comfortable with it after a few more invites....

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  14. Crystal: then again, you are probably so busy with your sheep to need distractions like a cafe every afternoon!!

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  15. At this point in my life a neighborhood in a country-like area with a small town close and a busier city within easy striking range is ideal for raising kids. Later, who knows?

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  16. SAW: I do wonder that were I not choosing to live alone I might change my mind about my choices.

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  17. In my twenties I loved living in London, (England not Ontario!) for the art galleries, the shops, the feeling of being where it's at. By the time I turned thirty I was relieved to escape to Edinburgh, which is pretty much my perfect city: a small centre which you can safely walk around, great cultural life, great eateries and unbeatable cityscapes. It was a bit of a culture shock to move to the sticks. I missed Harvey Nichols, take-away curries and Starbucks gingerbread lattes (sad but true). The longer I've lived in the country, though, the more I've realised that I was always a country girl at heart. Never more content than walking the dogs in jeans and wellies, watching the seasons change. I used to miss the spring so much in London, where I'd take my lunchtime sandwiches to eat under the sooty plane trees in Berkeley Square, longing for green-ness. I still love visiting a city as a weekend tourist, for a taste of the high life, but I am always relieved to leave the pollution and bustle behind and come back home. Definitely a country mouse. The occasional bout of bucolia (!) is the price I'm happy to pay for fresh air and peace.

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  18. Funny, in one of my last posts I wrote about the country (the experience of a cityslicker).
    Even though I lived on the countryside in my childhood, I would not last long, and miss the shops, the plethora of events and activities of the city.

    Have to admit after we moved to a condo last summer, I sorely miss my yard, and hope there's a chance for a house with a yard in the future.

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  19. Beastie: I used to know someone from our church, many years ago, who lived in the country and traded homes with another church member on weekends so he could spend time in the city and they could visit family on the farm!

    Jeannette: your post inspired me to write this!
    What I miss most is a small yard and a street view.

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  20. Oh, good post... yes the pros and cons of city and country life.. we talk about this so very often you could not imagine.. John was raised in Montreal and still has the city in his bones..

    so many great things in either place.. oh yes we do contemplate the double life...

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