Pick a direction
Wharton, NJ, November 2009
About this photo: We're winding down this week's Thematic Photographic theme, "On the road" with this wistful view from a recent family adventure. Feel free to head here if you'd like to share a pic. New theme goes up tonight at 7:00 Eastern.We stopped in this seemingly Rockwell-painted town to soothe a little girl's tummy ache. We were in the home stretch of a long drive to New York, and this place couldn't be more different than the urban jungle that awaited us.
I wandered around the service station's parking lot while my wife was turning our daughter's frown upside-down. As always, she got our little one back to her usual sweet self in virtually no time flat. As I strolled back to the car, I thought this might be a place we'd like to hang around in a little longer someday. Sometimes, small places like this burrow their way into your mind in no time flat. I'd like to know why that is.
Your turn: Why do small towns appeal to us?
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9 comments:
I know the answer to that one - it's because small towns are approachable, contained, seemingly more self-aware than the megaliths of modern cities. I can attest to this, as my time spent in a small New England town afforded me more opportunities to really connect with the people in them (hello - everyone goes to the same church!) than living in a bustling city.
Also, it seems way more possibly for someone's gramma to be baking a nice pie in a small town....for some reason it also seems like she'd be happy to share it with a stranger.
I totally dig small towns.
I'm ambivalent about small towns myself. Too many stopped conversations when I walked in the drug store and just a little too much of that "familiarity" Tiff's talking about. They have their charms, and I don't mind visiting them, but I don't think I'd like living in one much. Then again, I never have lived in one except for my time in the army. Which doesn't count since practically everyone in the small town I lived in then was also in the army -- and therefore transient. So maybe I'd like it just fine.
And maybe it's different up yonder. But I suspect the dynamics are more the same than they are different.
Rounding out this week's theme I've skipped "town" altogether and gone off-road for on-the-road.
Thematic Photographic 87: "On The Road" v.7.0 - On the Road, But Off It.
more MAY be a robot..or worse.
small towns are human scaled. Cities are over whelming and cold. Life happens eaiser and more naturally when you are in small groups. Riots happen in soccer stadiums and in "downtown" areas. Nothing going on here today, but more snow
Because life is slower.
People know each other. Neighbors are really neighbors.
Your children are well known, even if you aren't. They are a place where being "Nyssa's Mom" is not at all weird.... just think... what WOULD you think if a person walked up to you in New York City and said... "Oh! You're Nyssa's mom!" Right... where is the nearest policeman.
Because you can get from one side of town to the other without having to stop for gas or for more than two stoplights in some cases.
Actually, because there really is no difference between one side of town and the other.
Because the largest traffic jam occurs the first Saturday night in December with the annual Christmas parade.....Santa bringing up the rear in his fire truck.
Because life is family... in a small town.
I love small towns. There is a certain peacefulness that comes from not a lot of noise and traffic. It's the quietness that attracts me.
Long time no see - sorry - I've been bad about commenting...I'll try and do better...
My 'city' of Newcastle has been described as 'Big enough, small enough'. And I think that covers the delights of most small towns too. (We're in a small city. I hope that counts.)
But I think you might enjoy my account of one true 'small town' here:
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2009/11/wootton-bassett.html
I loved walking around Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada years ago. I love seeing towns and cities in different places.
Carmi there are many towns in the US that look like this, I love roads trip and traveling on the I80 always brings adventure. Hope your trip was awesome!
You anonymity disappears in a flash in a place like that. You just can't dissolve into the background or masses.
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