Living in a Small Town 1807

      Living in a small town is a good thing, but you have to have the right size small town. We lived in Ash Grove, population 1400 for many years and it was too small. We were never accepted by most people because we were not born there and did not go to school there. Here we live in a town of 14,000 and while it has the small town feel and flavor there are more people like us who were not born here and we find people are more receptive to outsiders because many if not most are from different places. It really makes a difference. We are big enough to have all the stores we would want to go to and we are not far away from a bigger town that has the rest of what anyone could want. Life here is good.
      I have had an idea for years about writing a book titled "Why you want to live in the country and why you shouldn't." I just never got around to writing it because I never thought I had enough to put on paper. One of the key points was the fact that you can't get away from the crime and the drugs anywhere in the country. The only time we were burglarized was living just outside Ash Grove. Ash Grove had its drug problems and its burglaries because of druggies. If you have never been burglarized, it is a horrible experience and one we have never gotten over. It seemed so personable and disgusting to think strangers were rummaging through all of our personal things. Joyce was freaked out because they stole all of her good jewelry, taking everything she had but what she had on that day at work. Not only that, but they were in her underwear drawer and even I would never go there. She had this vision of someone wearing her underwear over his head while he went through all of her things. I never could get to that idea, but it has bothered her to this day.