Rural America

[MissTaken]

I know we love to post as though we are sexually enlightened suburbanites, but truth be told, we all have had experiences with rural America. Perhaps, you have lived or live in a remote area or perhaps you have visited.

Tell us your stories.

For me, I was raised in a town that finally got cable television circa 1991. And that, was a weak attempt as it had no MTV, HBO or any other of the big name cable networks.

Main Street was 1.4 miles long and had approximately seven bars, one church, one grocery store and two stall garage called the Fire Department.

My brother, who still lives there, does get the first day of deer hunting season off as a paid holiday.

 

[Moridin187]

*twitch*

Hate.. rural... Hate.. backwoods.. Hate.. Vermont... Must.. Get out.. Must.. Get free..

Alright.. You want an example? I remember high school.. and the fact that during hunting season only roughly 30% of us came to school, and that was no big deal..

The music store here only started selling CD's this year..

Before that you had to go 20 miles to get one.

 

[Fly_On_Wall]

I don't understand.

 

[carrie-on]

I live in such a rural area, that we can't get cable. The school my kids go to is 40 miles away and there are 7 kids in my daughter's graduating class.
Oh yeah, the closest Walmart is 90 miles in any direction except north. That is Lake Superior.

 

[perks]

I grew up in rural NH. School consisted of me walking a mile to get to my bus stop.

The road I lived on had a covered bridge and the country store.
During January thaw the river usually flooded and I wouldn't be able to get to school for a week or so.

We heated strictly with wood heat which meant lugging wood every day before and after school.

Our nearest neighbor was 3/4 of a mile away.

We had a volunteer fire department and if there was a fire they had to run the hose down to the river.

We were a two cop car town, and they went off duty at 1am.

No bars, no other stores. The next local town was 20 minutes away.

There was a gradeschool, and a regional HS. I was one of 3 students in my 8th grade class then went to the regional HS which had 140students in my freshman year.

We were all driving at 15.
We swam in the quarry. We went tubing in the winter. Tubing=riding the innertubes from dumptrucks down the snow covered hills in the sand pits into a pond full of slush at the bottom. Snowmobiling, bonfires, camping.

There wasn't any cable where I lived until my junior year in HS.

Riding horses, going muddin', grabbin brewskies then cowtipping.

LOL, ayuh, can't get theah from heah.

 

[Elizabeth]

My brother, who still lives there, does get the first day of deer hunting season off as a paid holiday.

That kind of made me laugh. I live in a city that's anything but rual and my GM-employed husband gets the first day of hunting seaon off with pay.

 

[WhiteRose]

My brother, who still lives there, does get the first day of deer hunting season off as a paid holiday.

hehe brings back memories. I've lived in big cities, suburbs, and small towns. My third high school (no, I didn't get kicked out, we moved twice ) was in a small town with a population of just over 10,000, but that included the surrounding farms, and it was the county seat. There were about 8 grade schools, one middle school, and one high school. My graduating class had 200 kids, and yes, they did take time out from school during harvest and hunting season.

There weren't even any school busses for the high school, almost all the students had their own cars, although a lot of the guys raced theirs on weekends and had to bum rides to school while they were repairing their own. We cruised up and down mainstreet on Fridays and Saturdays. Everyone knew each others' cars. We drank a LOT, but there wasn't much to hit other than cows. There were hardly any drugs in town, they didn't much put up with that stuff there.

There was one theatre, and you had to stand up for the Star Spangled Banner before the movie started. We had one Chinese restaurant, and it was always packed. One pizza place, one Taco Time, and one McDonalds. It was a BIG event in my senior year when we finally got a Wendy's (they even got a KMart since I left there!)

All the kids knew the unmarked police cars, and the day the police force got a new one, the description and license plate number were xeroxed off in the school copier room and distributed to all students Our football team often had to travel 300 miles to play a game, but everyone in town went to them. Everyone knew everyone's family, and they were always keeping tabs on you, which sometimes was a good thing and sometimes wasn't.

I loved it though.

In a big city, where we moved after I graduated high school, I always feel like I'm all alone surrounded by total strangers. No one talks to each other or looks at each other, unless they're cussing you out for something. I was always tense and hurried, never looked up at the sky, but then it was always smoggy. Nobody cares about you, and they'd never miss you if you weren't there suddenly.

Hated that.

Now, I live in an unincorporated part of a big city. I have horses pastured down the block and across the street. I see foxes running through my complex and flocks of Canadian geese, and a family of ducks lives here in the pond for part of every year. In an hour, I can be downtown or up in the mountains. McDonalds is a ways away, but I can look out the window and know people are around.

It's not so bad here

 

[MissTaken]

I am dying to know....

Who else thought ice cream and sitting at the local garbage dump watchng the bears was family night out?

Come on!

I can't be the only one!

 

[Jimi]

Rural Anytown

None of this is unfamiliar.

I will see a few John Deere, Ski-Doo and Camouflage ballcaps in the pub tonight, I'm sure...

'Course I'm pretty close to the St Lawrence, and NY State is but an hour away... VT and NH are close. I like them.

As a teenager I lived in the Philly area - and don't particularly like urban NE USA.

RURAL NY & PA are great.

New England and Maine are awesome. You guys should join Canada, esp. VT and Maine - you have more in common w/ us than the citizenry of Megalopolis, IMHO.

 

[perks]

Re: I am dying to know....

Who else thought ice cream and sitting at the local garbage dump watchng the bears was family night out?

Come on!

I can't be the only one!

haahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!......that was the weekly Saturday trip with Dad.

 

[MissTaken]

The nearest movie theater is 45 miles, the nearest mall is 60 miles. These aren't great distances, but significant. Of course, we grew up driving long distances. No big deal, now!





Hmm the big question....

Cow tipping, anyone????

 

[perks]

The nearest movie theater is 45 miles, the nearest mall is 60 miles. These aren't great distances, but significant. Of course, we grew up driving long distances. No big deal, now!





Hmm the big question....

Cow tipping, anyone????

Heyyyyy I already mentioned that one....lol..near the "grabbin my shit kickers and some brewskies and goin' muddin'.

 

[MissTaken]

Heyyyyy I already mentioned that one....lol..near the "grabbin my shit kickers and some brewskies and goin' muddin'.

Sorry, perky...

I guess I was so busy chuckling at the responses, I didn't read very carefully. I am a bad bad thread hostess and need a spank!

Anybody willing?


One of my fond memories, partying around a bonfire deep in the woods. They were some really great times, bears or no bears!

 

[perks]

Sorry, perky...

I guess I was so busy chuckling at the responses, I didn't read very carefully. I am a bad bad thread hostess and need a spank!

Anybody willing?


One of my fond memories, partying around a bonfire deep in the woods. They were some really great times, bears or no bears!

and didn't everyone always know someone who knew the kid that had the BB gun accident?

 

[MissTaken]

and didn't everyone always know someone who knew the kid that had the BB gun accident?

Oh yes!

There must be a four corners somewhere where all the people are related and have the same name. They really don't get out much, but everyone in towns knows who "those people" are.

Sad , but true.

And gun racks! No drapes in the windows at home, but damn straight, every pick up had a gun rack!

 

[roxie]

Re: I am dying to know....

Who else thought ice cream and sitting at the local garbage dump watchng the bears was family night out?

Come on!

I can't be the only one!

At least I know I'm in a group now! We used to do this all the time on the weekends. Cowtippin, now there is something I haven't done in a long time!

We are pretty far out too, we don't have a town, we have a village, town is about 25 miles down the road and that's not much bigger than the village. Wal-Mart is about 90 miles in either direction, K-Mart is in town but right now their shelves are empty. I too get paid for the first day of hunting season, I run both IGA's in a 50 mile radius and we close for the first day. Right now, since the main store is on the lake, we are being invaded from the south for the ice fishing. Altho because of the beautiful weather we've had lately, the lake is only about half froze. Personally, I say it's natural selection, only the smart survive. I've been watching the shanties slowly sink into the lake for the last month.
My nearest neighbor is almost a mile away and I can barely see the top of his house. Right before winter started settling in, we had to stop feeding the birds and the squirrels because the bears were coming thru and eating everything, plus tearing the place up.

I no longer have patio furniture. A swamp buck apparently decided that my table and chairs were a threat to his doe so he killed them. He even knocked the umbrella out of the table and we found that down the road. Oh the lessons I've learned from living in the country!

 

[roxie]

Oh yes!

There must be a four corners somewhere where all the people are related and have the same name. They really don't get out much, but everyone in towns knows who "those people" are.

There is another village not far from me, we'll leave the name out. But I swear everyone there is related to everyone else somehow or another. I went to the gas station there once driving thru and I swear it was a scene right out of "Deliverance" I've not been back since but sometimes they venture over to one of the stores and scare the hell out of my clerks....

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

rural north america

The last place that we moved to here, while i was still under mothers roof was a really rural type area.

nearest neighbour 2 miles any direction.

nearest corner convience store 10 miles.

nearest small town 40 miles.

nearest city with real stores 75 miles.

school population that housed grades 6-12, 187 students.

hunting season it wasn't unusal to see 3/4 of he student body not there, but out hunting.

dump scavanging was a big past time {going though other peoples garabage looking for goodies}

cow tipping for fun after school

watching the bears in the dump for a fun saturday night

during haying season fun was to go out at night and make the bails onto different designs {stonehendge, mini cities, etc.} to play with the farmers often undereducated minds.

3 cars sitting on blocks was a normla for most peoples properties.

more people drove tractors than cars.

I miss those days but also m gald i am out of there, actually i am torn i want both

 

[MissTaken]

Wow, Roxie! This sounds way to familiar! lol

I forgot about the wildlife who allow us to use their land for our town.

Bears in the front lawn, raccoons in the garbage, and an entire street devoted to deer in the springtime.


Yes, Roxie....you belong, babe!

 

[perks]

we had our canoe upside down on saw horses and a drunk hunter came out of the woods and shot it. Dad went after him with an axe, as I recall.
ahahahahahaha.

 

[perks]

we had this thing called lawn to lawn to lawn to lawn.....we used to steal the dorky lawn ornaments from one house and put them on the next miles away...and the ones from that house....onto the next....we used to do it for miles.

HS graduation we put a cow on the roof of the HS and stole all the for sale signs from the neighboring town and put them on the front lawn.

 

[MissTaken]

Re: rural north america

during haying season fun was to go out at night and make the bails onto different designs {stonehendge, mini cities, etc.} to play with the farmers often undereducated minds.

OMG! Stonehenge????


*I am sure I didn't spell it right*


When you could name the meat in your stew, you knew it was nearly payday.

"That was Rosie. She was an awesome cow."

 

[MissTaken]

we had this thing called lawn to lawn to lawn to lawn.....we used to steal the dorky lawn ornaments from one house and put them on the next miles away...and the ones from that house....onto the next....we used to do it for miles.

HS graduation we put a cow on the roof of the HS and stole all the for sale signs from the neighboring town and put them on the front lawn.

And target shooting through road signs?????

I can see perky in the back of a pick up in sexy shorts and a t, sporting her pellet gun!

Sorry, but I couldn't resist!

 

[perks]

And target shooting through road signs?????

I can see perky in the back of a pick up in sexy shorts and a t, sporting her pellet gun!

Sorry, but I couldn't resist!

lol.....noooooo. I was hitting them with a baseball bat...or mailboxes anyway. OMG.....addresses.....RFD #.....lol

I went down to the range to shoot.....<snicker>

 

[roxie]

Wow, Roxie! This sounds way to familiar! lol

I forgot about the wildlife who allow us to use their land for our town.

Bears in the front lawn, raccoons in the garbage, and an entire street devoted to deer in the springtime.


Yes, Roxie....you belong, babe!

I feel so loved Thank you!


I can remember my father, who is blind as hell, getting out the 9mm because the dogs were going ape shit in the house (I have 6 dogs so when one starts, they all gotta follow). So he goes outside and yells to my mom "What the hell is it?!" And she's standing on the patio yelling at him that it's a porcupine! So he starts firing away! He did eventually scare it off, but he never hit it, however from the mess I found when I got home, he did manage to put an entire round into my rock garden and pond. Lesson to be learned here, hide the guns from the blind man.