A [Relatively] Simple Time and Place

Having lived in both the metropolitan area of a large mid-Atlantic city and the suburbs of a relatively small southern city, I would say that the latter suits me better. I had no idea that would be the case.

That being said, I don't think I can handle going much below the population of where I am right now (which is about 60,000).  I value my conveniences, shopping, and interstates too highly.  Perhaps in my retirement the idea of being 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store will sound appealing to me.  (Then again, perhaps it won't.)

And while I enjoy many conveniences in my small southern city, there is a strange dichotomy here.  We're just rural enough that I pass by fields of corn, cotton, and soybeans on my way to work (just a mile or so before passing the Kohls, Dunkin' Donuts, and mall).  The sight of these fields is refreshing, and I hope they are able to resist the sprawl and remain fields for many years to come.  The road that boasts the fields is a 55mph highway outside of our subdivision on which I have been stuck behind a tractor multiple times.  This very same roadis the one that, if you take ten miles south, will deliver you to Georgia's 1,100 acre Fairgrounds and Agricenter, which hosts I-don't-even-know-how-many livestock shows throughout the year.  People travel all over the state with their animals to show them off at the Agricenter.

I might know more about it if I were from around here.  Or if I liked animals even a little bit.

So what's the point?

As a result of our semi-rural, semi-urban dichotomy, I had the delight of enjoying an unsuspecting simple pleasure when I looked out my window at work the other day.  The sight brought an instant smile to my face, and of course, prompted me to pull out the camera, which I was so happy to have with me.

That, friends, is the tractor my boss's cousin drove over to wish him a Happy Birthday.  

Here I am, finding myself thankful to live in a rural-enough area that this is still possible.  I wonder if he'd have taken me through the Sonic drive-thru on his way back to work.  Because he could have.

The fact that there are tractors roaming about, parking between the lines, driving on 55 mph highways is, strangely enough, my simple pleasure today.

What's yours?

Linking up with Dayle's Simple Pleasure Party at...