- 110 miles for daily mass
- 110 miles for Sunday mass
- 110 miles for a Tridentine rite mass
- 110 miles for confession behind a screen.
- 110 miles for a priest at all.
- 110 miles for the dentist and orthodontist
- 110 miles for any of Aidan's crew of specialists with whom he has regular clinic app'ts.
- 110 miles for his physical therapy.
- 110 miles for the nearest blood draw place where Aidan gets his regular labs.
- 110 miles for the nearest Emergency Room or urgent care clinic, or hospital.
- 110 miles to the nearest college or university campus.
- 110 miles for Costco, Target, the book store, the dollar store, the shoe store, the clothes store, the music store, the health food store, the UPS station, office supply store, DMV or any type of place like that.
- 110 miles for any sports or cultural event, art gallery, science exhibition
- 40 miles for a second Saturday vigil mass if we happen to miss the early vigil mass up here.
- 40 miles for any kind of grocery shopping (if you don't count the little markets in our town which are priced for the ski vacationer)
- 40 miles for the nearest drug store.
- 40 miles for the nearest doctor.
- 40 miles for the tiny local homeschool group.
- 40 miles for any kind of little league seasonal sports practice or event like baseball, soccer, basketball, or football.
- 40 miles for the local high school.
- 40 miles for drama productions, dance, choir, gymnastics, choir or any of that kind of thing.
- 40 miles for the local community theatric company rehearsals and events.
I could go on but you get the idea.
What's close to us:
- A truly spectacular national forest right outside our front door.
- A very wonderful violin teacher.
- A tiny public library with hardly any books, where we can, however, have all kinds of books couriered to us from the whole country library system, and librarians who like us and sometimes save crates of old give-aways for us to look through first before they go on the discard shelves.
- A postmaster and grocer who know us well and talk to us
- Safe and respectful neighbors, mostly retirees.
We've been settled here for twelve years, and I don't want to leave our home, but in a way I do, and the main reasons can probably be summed up in terms of miles driven.
5 comments:
That does sound rough! I, on the other hand, am in a very populated area where traffic is a real problem and every green space is being cut down and made into pretentious, ugly housing developments. But it takes me 10 minutes to get to the grocery store, dentist, therapists, church (when I'm not fighting traffic!). I think though it must make you very efficent when it comes to meal planning and being self-sufficient. Here it is so easy to blow money on conveniences when those conveniences are everywhere. Also, one is tempted to lead a very hectic life-style because there are TOO many choices, everywhere, all the time. It is also very expensive to just live here.
So it is definitely a trade-off. Being in such a beautiful area where you have more control over the pace of your life and what comes into your house sounds wonderful and I have to kind of stamp down a certain envy!
That's an interesting perspective, as you pretty much lead our life flipped, except for the violin teacher. (We love ours, too!)
I definitely agree with what Faith says about the temptation to lead a hectic life, and of course, the expense.
Just wondering, how many days a week do you usually make one of those drives (particularly the 110 mi one), and how long does it take? Is it a full two hours of driving? (I'm figuring on and averaging typical highway speeds plus some town driving.)
I am currently taking my daughter twice a week to a physical therapist for performers. It's near Times Square. It's only a few miles away as the crow flies, but we go by subway. The appointment is thirty minutes, but somehow the round trip, excluding anything else we do while we're down there, is two hours. Still, I'm glad to have the excellent care.
I always do wonder how others live, so thanks for this window onto your daily life. I have to admit that I picture you living like a slightly more suburbanized (and Catholic, which makes a big difference!) version of the Colfax family ;-).
So, looking for all the pros of moving away? :)
Chari -- yesss, exactly (and Kevin said it convinced him, reading it : )).
Laura -- I know, sometimes the little details a family takes for granted are the ones that seem so exotic to someone else. I think about that a lot. We are down to driving "to town" (the 110 mile one) about once or twice a week. We try to coordinate our activities. We used to have to go almost every day, and really in a way we "should" be going more often, in that the kids don't really get to get involved in very many out of home activities at all.
Faith -- I will ENVY my former life if we do move. The positives about staying here seem to outweigh the positives of moving in one way. In another way, the positives here are as big as the sky and the trees, while the other conveniences if we moved don't seem quite so big. It's a dilemma. Still, I am thinking that our younger kids need more activities and out of home things than my older set did (the younger ones are spaced more widely, are more extroverted, and Aidan has special needs).
Thanks for all the comments.
Chari has a great situation -- spectacular rural setting but still within easy reach of various things. Kind of the best of both worlds, I think.
You are right....I actually have a grocery store in town.....tourist prices, but a bit lower. :)Funny..........we RARELY buy anything from them. But to buy underwear? Now that is a trip. :)
And to go to the next big towns for me are a round trip of 2 or 3 hours depending on whether north or south.......so, sometimes I do not leave town for over two months :)
I LOVE it here........but there is NO *Y*O*U*
:(
tell Kevin you can move here....it wouldn't bother me. :)
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