On Leaving Brockville

This is it, the last hour in Brockville. I'm sure going to miss the old hometown. I realized this trip that I had a pretty good childhood here. I guess I'm no different than most people that grew up in a small town; couldn't wait to leave and then miss it like hell when you're away.

So what was so great about growing up here? For one, it only took about 1/2 hour to walk anywhere, and we did a lot of walking if we weren't on our bikes. When we were kids we played street hockey year round. The air was filled with kids yelling "car!" which was the signal to get the net off the street and "game on" when the car went past. Most adults always knew to watch out for kids on the street around here which is why everyone in town drives so darn slow! That was one aspect of small town that I had a hard time getting used to after driving in California where 20 mph over the speed limit is the norm. Here everyone drives the speed limit. Nothing more irritating then driving 50 km (about 35 mph) on an empty country road! Another aspect of small town living is dropping in on folks. No one here gets upset if you drop in if you're passing by. As a matter of fact, they get downright upset if they find out you were driving or walking past the house and didn't stop by. Sometimes a good party springs up because of a visit. That happened the other day. We were just sitting around and my cousin Deb & her husband just stopped by on their way home and we had a nice visit. Often in our family a party will start up and there's lots of singing involved because my family can sure sing at the drop of a hat!

So would I move back here if I won the lotto? I don't think so. I really do love it here but I think I love San Diego better. I don't think I could get used to small town living after living in the "big city." For one, I was having fabric store withdrawal symptoms while I was here! They have to drive to Kingston for any type of craft item. No Michael's, no Barnes & Nobles and the horrors of it all...only one Starbuck's. But they do have 5 Tim Horton's Donut shops--Canadians sure love their donuts! There are more Tim Horton's per capita in Canada than Starbuck's and McDonald's combined in the States.

So it's back to San Diego. I miss my dogs and cat and kids so it's time to go "home."