As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, there was a story on the news about a new subway line that is about to open in New York City. Everyone was so excited for this new subway line, it was decades in it's achievement.....to go 30 blocks. Let that sink in. I have no concept of living in a big city. I can't imagine being excited about the ability to travel 30 blocks. My average day includes about 200 of miles travel. In fact, I think I drive more than 30 blocks just to get to my office. That being said, Wyoming is nothing but small towns. I love driving out in the middle of nowhere and suddenly, voila! there is a little town tucked far off the highway. So, on my drive to work, I really noticed the nuances of the little town where I live. Green River, Wyoming's main street would appear to most, as a scene from a movie. A long street lined with old buildings and little businesses. There's the tiny bakery on the corner, the little lumber store that has everything, a real estate office, a title company, a retired dentist, a barber shop, and all the other little hometown shops you would expect to see in a Hallmark movie. The sun was just rising behind the snow covered mountain and the whole street shimmered in the golden light. Christmas decorations still lit the sidewalks. There were twinkling stars, angels blowing their trumpets, colorful toy soldiers, and glowing candles. A young woman with very thin legs crossed the street in a bulky, insulated coat. You could see her breathing in the cold air as little puffs of steam followed her with each exhale of her breath. A man walked out to the sidewalk to place the sign that he put out every day showing his store hours. I drove up and over the bridge that crossed the frozen Green River. The sky now exploded with orange light and clouds that looked like streaks of fire across the pale blue sky. A garbage truck turned on a side street to pick up and dump the trash cans lining the street. As I drove up the hill to my office, I could look down across the entire town. Steam billowed from the roofs of the buildings and houses as furnaces worked overtime to keep them warm. The temperature registered a whopping zero degrees inside the cab of my delightfully heated truck. All around me I could see the snow covered mountains, the dazzling colors of the sky, the remnants of the Christmas season, the lights glowing from homes just bustling awake. I see people I know every day and every where I go. It's true what they say. There is no charm equal to the charm you find in a small town. (okay, I don't know who "they" are, maybe it's just me that said that, but you know it's true.) I've seen my share of big cities where millions of people huddled together in tight spaces. Where buildings soared so high in the sky that you couldn't see the sun, moon, or stars. They have much to offer in the way of commercial services, shopping, sight seeing and the like. But, there are no sights greater than a sky filled with stars on a dark night. Or seeing the brilliant copper and golden glow of a sunrise over a snowy mountain. There is no commercial service that beats the hometown friendliness of the person who so willingly bags my groceries at the one grocery store in town. I love living in a place where people genuinely care about one another, where I can say good morning to a stranger and they don't look at me like I'm about to rob them. I don't mind one bit traveling for hours to the big city, as long as I can live in the glory of a small town.
