Small Town Girl
I grew up in a small town in central Missouri. Population of about 3500, give or take. Like all small towns, it was hell.
My first mode of transportation was a used bicycle with no covers on the handlebars (man! I wanted one of those cool bikes with pink tassels on the handlebars!). I still have a scar from that handle digging a hole into my tummy when I was learning to ride and wrecked. That hurt like hell, but it was worth it 'cause then I got a cool bicycle with a banana seat. It was great. I could fly on that thing, and cut corners so short and fast that my pedal would dig into the ground.
Everybody knew everybody. That sucked when I was a teenager. My mom hated "cruising" (kids nowadays are really missing out - man, the days of cruising from Hardees to Hardees or cruising the loop were great!) and if I went cruising with a friend, somebody would tell her before I got home. No chance to sneak out either, 'cause if I went to spend the night with a friend, my mom knew their mom and they'd both know if we weren't where we were supposed to be.
Still, town was all I knew. Neighbors right next door, sharing a fence. If you needed a cup of sugar, you ran to a neighbor's house. Evenings were spent chatting over the back fence. I walked to school, rode my bike if I wanted to go see a friend. When the tornado sirens went off, we drove a few blocks to the church and took cover in the basement with everybody else. Chores consisted of feeding Duke, our old bird dog, and raking grass after Dad mowed the yard. I dreamed of what my life would hold, spent days cloistered in my room, drawing plans for my dream horse ranch, writing stories of what it would be like to live there. I just knew that someday I would live on a farm, with dogs and cats and horses and goats. I just knew that it would be a dream come true. I knew that someday I would be a ranch owner.
And the dream has come true.
Kinda.
We have horses and dogs and cats (haven't talked my hubby into the goats yet). But it isn't quite the way this townie pictured it.
What did you dream of when you were a kid? And have you made it your reality?
My first mode of transportation was a used bicycle with no covers on the handlebars (man! I wanted one of those cool bikes with pink tassels on the handlebars!). I still have a scar from that handle digging a hole into my tummy when I was learning to ride and wrecked. That hurt like hell, but it was worth it 'cause then I got a cool bicycle with a banana seat. It was great. I could fly on that thing, and cut corners so short and fast that my pedal would dig into the ground.
Everybody knew everybody. That sucked when I was a teenager. My mom hated "cruising" (kids nowadays are really missing out - man, the days of cruising from Hardees to Hardees or cruising the loop were great!) and if I went cruising with a friend, somebody would tell her before I got home. No chance to sneak out either, 'cause if I went to spend the night with a friend, my mom knew their mom and they'd both know if we weren't where we were supposed to be.
Still, town was all I knew. Neighbors right next door, sharing a fence. If you needed a cup of sugar, you ran to a neighbor's house. Evenings were spent chatting over the back fence. I walked to school, rode my bike if I wanted to go see a friend. When the tornado sirens went off, we drove a few blocks to the church and took cover in the basement with everybody else. Chores consisted of feeding Duke, our old bird dog, and raking grass after Dad mowed the yard. I dreamed of what my life would hold, spent days cloistered in my room, drawing plans for my dream horse ranch, writing stories of what it would be like to live there. I just knew that someday I would live on a farm, with dogs and cats and horses and goats. I just knew that it would be a dream come true. I knew that someday I would be a ranch owner.
And the dream has come true.
Kinda.
We have horses and dogs and cats (haven't talked my hubby into the goats yet). But it isn't quite the way this townie pictured it.
What did you dream of when you were a kid? And have you made it your reality?
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