<p>Today, in my little town, is one of those sparkling fall days. Leaves are magenta, gold, yellow, red, luminescent orange. The air is crisp. The temperature is PERFECT. It is one of those days that is paradigmatic New England. One of those days that just makes you happy to be alive and right where you are.</p>
<p>In my little town, you can live on an oceanfront estate or in a little modest post-war-returning-GI cape cod home. You can still pick your own strawberries at one of the three family-owned working farms, or buy their fresh grown mesclun all bagged and washed for you if you don’t care to grow your own. Or buy fresh-laid eggs right next to the chicken coop. You can walk along the sandy beach or the rocky, craggy coastline a mile away. You can go to the town dump (now re-christened Transfer Station), which is where I was when I started this rhapsodizing), because we don’t have trash pick-up. But there you will see your neighbors, can find a book to read in the Swap Shop and drop off your recyclable bottles to benefit the kid-related activity of the month (today it was high school football). You can send your kids to school with children of the power elite or children of farmers, fishermen or carpenters. </p>
<p>Now, don’t get me wrong. I have lived in and loved Washington DC, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Berkeley and could wax equally rhapsodic about each. But I will leave that to others… </p>
<p>i have a cute little town i recently moved to…its nice out today in the northeast…my mom told me to come outside w/ her 4 a sec to get something and as i was going outside i was like im wearin’ a very thin tshirt its cold outside…but i got outside and it was nice and warm…there was this huge fair here yesterday…it was fun…the police have so little to do that they went and caught a fake bag company…IT WAS me and my bffs favorite 2…y dont u have trash pick uP? that means if ur to lazy u will have tons of trash piled up…ew im not living in ur town ever…my towns small but big enough to have a county truck pick trash up 2 times/week</p>
<p>So you live in Manchester, MA? I haven’t been there since the '60s but that’s the town I immediately thought of from your description.</p>
<p>Today is a damp and foggy day in my suburban bedroom community outside Seattle. Just down the road, though, is a farm selling pick-your-own pumpkins, with a corn maze (and still some fresh corn). They had strawberries earlier this year and I will buy my Christmas tree from them later this year. (Last year, I wanted a “large Noble Fir” and they sent us to cut down the one outside their front door. I was shocked. They pointed out: we sell Christmas trees, you want that one and you’re willing to pay for it. We did.)</p>
<p>I don’t <em>love</em> my bedroom community, though. There are too many overindulgent parents who think nothing of their kids’ rudeness, traffic is hellish between 7:30 and 9 as all the workers leave for their out-of-community jobs, and one of my neighbors abuses his wife and yells at his kids. </p>
<p>Why do we stay? There are some good neighbors. The location is nice–we have a great view–and most days I don’t feel as cynical as I do today.</p>
<p>ooo but i have a recycling service to…one day they just pick up trash…another day they pick up recycling and newspapers and then they pick up trash again but were in the wealthy(and im not uber wealthy) County of Nassau on long island the taxs r high…</p>
<p>Lesmizzie–back when we lived in a small town, a reasonably-priced trash pickup service was available, but we chose to take our trash and recyclables to the transfer station anyway. Why? Well, that was where you found out the town news, met the people who were running for office, ran into people you hadn’t seen in a while…</p>
<p>My favorite swap shack story: one day, I took the two Christmas poinsettias I was tired of–it was March but they still looked really good–and put them in the swap shack. Later that day I stopped to visit a friend. She said to me “come see the great poinsettias I found at the swap shack.” There they were. They grew and bloomed for her every year for five more years!</p>
<p>JMmom, I have an idea of where you generally live and have been there many times. I have always felt that your community has a bunch in common with mine. The main difference is that you have the ocean and we have the mountains. You have lobster and we have, um, maple syrup :D. But in many ways, we live in similar communities. I live in a rural town that is a ski resort town. Right now, the weather and scenery are gorgeous and the tourists are here by the zillion. I had to drive to upstate NY yesterday so I felt like a leaf peeper going through VT and NY state. Later today, I’m taking a break from my work and going apple picking with my husband about 45 min. away from our little town (to another little town), something we did annually with our kids since they were tots but they are no longer here :(. My husband doesn’t like giving up the rituals we did with the kids. So, we’ll pick bags of apples and never nearly eat them all. </p>
<p>A lot of people here also take their trash to the dump. There is even a Sat. radio show called “music to go to the dump by”. We have private trash pick up. Here in the country, we have to arrange for and pay for things like trash pick up and snowplowing the driveways (which are long roads). We also pay for lawn mowing as it is big. </p>
<p>I really like where I live. When I visit other places, ultimately on my way back home driving through the winding roads through the mountains and the goregeous scenery that draws tourists worldwide, I am always happy to be coming back here. The lifestyle in a small town, where everyone knows you, and where well to do people or second homeowners or professionals can mix with farmers, craftspeople, waiters, carpenters, and ski lift operators is rather nice. And to be honest, we don’t have all the competitive aura in schools and with regard to college admissions, nor lavish birthday celebrations, that I read about on here that takes place in other communities. Many people would not wish to live here or send their kids to school here, but I think it has been a great place to live and to bring up kids. My kids now go to school in cities (one is even abroad) but Vermont is their home and I am glad this was where they got their start.</p>
<p>PS…someone else mentioned traffic. We have one main road through our town. We also have many dirt roads. We have NO traffic lights in the entire town. No billboards, no fast food restaurants or chains. Anyway, the most traffic we have is right now, all the leaf peepers. Otherwise, traffic is a nonissue. We do drive longer distances than those in suburbia, however.</p>
<p>jmmom–I think Manchester, MA has become a rich Boston suburb over the years. I was remembering it as it was in the '60s. I sincerely hope your small Maine town isn’t a twin to my suburban Seattle community! I like the Maine coastal towns; my in-laws live on Vinalhaven (great place to visit, but I’m glad I don’t live there, that ferry would make me nuts!).</p>
<p>I am so happy to hear others who have a love for their towns, too, jmmom. Your town sounds perfectly wonderful! I love our little town, too. Every time we circle the town square, my husband smiles and says, “Go ahead … say it”. He has gotten so used to me saying, “I love our little town” that if I don’t say it quickly enough, he prompts me to do so. It’s so quaint, pretty and historic. People are nice, mannerly and genuinely friendly, speaking to people they know and don’t know. Southern hospitality is definitely something you’ll find here. MomofWildChild recently moved to our area and I hope she feels the same. Y’all come see us now, ya hear?! :)</p>
<p>I don’t live in a little town by the sea like jmmom, but today the weather is gorgeous and the leaves (those that are still on the trees as opposed to on my lawn waiting to be raked :() are beautiful. The sun is shining, the sky is bright blue. I love fall in NE.</p>
<p>jmmom - Sweet post. I could have guessed you live in Maine! One of the most beautiful areas of the US - still relatively undiscovered and I hope it stays that way.</p>
<p>I do enjoy life in my city. The other day we were in Harvard Square (very nice weather) and the place was teeming with people. In front of a church there was a woman and her two sons, one about 8 and the other about 10. The mother was playing guitar, as was her 10-year old while the 8 year old was playing drums. They were singing a song that my H said was reminiscent of Carole King. The mother sported a T-shirt that read “College Fund Band.” I had to laugh at that, and contributed my bit to the kids’ college fund. Where else to make a pitch like that but in front of Harvard Yard?</p>
<p>My little town is a virtual town, populated by 35 years of memories. It sits in the middle of Silicon Valley, and appears in the shadows of the office parks, the affluent shopping centers, and the mansions built by venture capitalists.</p>
<p>In my little town, there are orchards by the side of the freeway. Hey, there’s only one freeway. In my little town, Palo Alto is a dozing college village populated by professors, hippies, and people who own small businesses. In my little town kids ride their bikes to the local pool, green/blonde hair in the wind, scabs on their knees, and tan from head to toe.</p>
<p>In this place it rains all winter. Spring comes when you walk outside in the morning and it’s already warm. Summer comes when the warmth of the air lifts the hair on your arms away from your body giving you a little halo of softness to walk with and the sky is always the color of the crayon called sky in your Crayola box. And fall arrives just in time for Hallowe’en to happen in the dark, as those little kids get off their bikes and run on the sidewalks in costumes.</p>
<p>In my little town, you know it’s California. And you know that The Electric Koolaid Acid test is happening nearby, and you know that it’s rare in the rest of the world for every one you know to vote Democratic. But this is still home, and the hardware store has been on the same street for 30 years, and the fish store has had the same giant sign with a huge blue fish model on it for years, and the bookstore on El Camino has been owned by the same family since the 1950’s.</p>
<p>It is still there this town. At least so I believe.</p>
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