Several of the Differences Between Here and There

 

You know what I'm talking about- we're here now but before we were there.
 I won't list pros and cons- not about this, not when it is a cultural thing. I will only take a moment to look at the differences.
There's, of course, the famous accent, a bit of twang, a bit of slang and a slight mountain-people sound to the language. It is quite delicious, actually. I have been given to understand that if I add the single word "wicked" to my vocabulary, I will fit right in.
The funny thing is, I'm not sure I want to. It has nothing to do with not wanting to be "one of them" or "sound like I'm from around these parts" and has more to do with the fact that I like all the places I've lived. I love the mix of soils in my blood and the way they combine to make up my experiences.
My children were born there, not here and I want to hold that space so they won't lose that piece. We chose that city- we chose it for its feeling of town camaraderie.

There was rich experience of the mix of different cultures and orientations.
There is where the fact that anything went was celebrated.
There has the slogan "Keep it Weird" and everyone smiled and laughed and accepted the individual strangeness and uniqueness we each have.
There they had the good food- the food that makes your toes curl and your eyes roll back in your head in ecstasy.
There was the land of good coffee, gray weather and a million different grocery stores and variety and affordable prices.
There was where the land was a giant melting pot that was a beautiful celebration of life and diversity.
There is a place where there are so many people, so many different experiences and the world is open and big and exciting.
There is my favorite city and a place that will forever live in my heart.
But, we didn't want city, we wanted stars at night and the howl of coyotes (hopefully not after our livestock). We wanted a barn with chickens and geese and ducks and a sheep, a goat and a pig (and no, they don't walk into a bar) and we wanted a slower pace, a more focused intent to live simply and smaller bills. So we are here.

Here is where the entire town of 1200 people throw a Halloween party- the entire town.
Here is where, for Christmas, Santa comes to the town hall and, again, the entire town shows up and every child sits on his lap and receives an wrapped gift while their parents eat and visit and decorate wreaths and evergreen bunches and make ornaments.
Here is where neighbors know each other and split wood together, where they laugh and joke and everyone smiles and waves- everyone.
Here is where despite differences everyone bans together because people need each other.
Here is where the stars are clear and bright and the sun shines even when the ground is covered in snow.
Here is where you make your own good food because there aren't restaurants.
Here is where the grocery stores are fewer and farther between and the prices are higher but the people who work there, know you and ask about your family.
Here the world is a smaller place.
Here is where everyone in surrounding towns show up for the middle school basketball game because that's live entertainment.
Sometimes I wonder if we have gone back in time- more in the Pleasantville sort of way than a women-shouldn't-vote sort of way.

The world we lived in before, the children had seen elephants and primates at the zoo. They had played with the gadgets and gizmos at the science museum and many had enjoyed the paintings and sculptures at the art museum. In this world, the art is the nature around you and in the words you read and speak or hear, the art is something you and your friends make. The zoo is in the animals that are both wild and domestic in your yard and in the yards around you. And the science museum, that is found in the gadgets and gizmos you learn to use working in the field, house and barn and the things you invent while playing outside.
In this world, the simplicity of a thermometer and it's ability to go up and down with the changes in temperature is something you have time to really wonder at as you put your coat on and head out to sled under the full moon.