Run Out Of Town On A Rail

Have you ever wondered how you got where you are? Where you live, I mean. For some of you, maybe it was a like a fairytale, once you found the love of your life, the two of you spend endless summer days on romantic drives in the country and discovered a sweet little village that you just fell in love with, so you bought an old farmhouse and moved in.

And then there are the rest of us, who looked at towns within about a 20 mile radius from where we grew up, and then found the town that was the best... only to discover that you can't afford the taxes there, let alone a house, so you lowered your standards a bit and ended up where you are now.

We live in Cary, and while there is nothing notably bad about the town, there's nothing notable about the town, period. I'm not complaining about where I live, I'm rather ambivalent about the whole thing. I don't think I'd be any more or less content living in Hampshire, or Woodstock, or Barrington.

We are here for the same reason as most, it's where our family is. Family is great and I don't ever regret moving close to the family. I just blame them incessantly for the fact that I'm here.  After all, I can't see any good reason why you live in the suburbs of Chicago, unless you loved going to Chicago. This would make sense, right? If generations previous said, "I love going to the city, but want to live in a safer place with more room and less traffic." There's only one problem, NOBODY in my family likes going into the city, nobody. Even we go maybe 3 or 4 times a year, tops. So why do we live here again?

Some folks would say I'd feel more of a connection to my town if I were more involved in civic functions, but those people can go to hell. This would be like telling a girl, "we have to have sex before I will know if I can love you", which probably wouldn't work either.

Don't get me wrong, there are many nice things that I like about our town, like the many parks and trails nearby, Silver Lake, and that sweet little bakery that just opened up by the Cary Diner. But I won't be too sad to leave the town either.