Our family moved to Cedaredge June 1st from SW Ohio. We have officially been ingrained into the Western Slope for four months.
Moving from a large city to a small town has been an adjustment for the five of us, (husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter), all of us having been born and raised in the Midwest. To say our lives have changed is an understatement, to be sure.
The town has somehow captured us, and I feel there will be no escape. The one-stoplight town has endeared us to its charm. The Taps at 8 PM each evening still make me stop to ponder the day; the siren which sounds at 11:52 AM each morning reminds us it’s time to take a break for lunch. The closing of the restaurants each afternoon sends us home to eat dinner around the table with our family, a true rarity for many.
Of course, the beauty that surrounds us here cannot be compared to anything or anywhere. Each day brings a different look of the mountains, the Mesa and the sky. It would be difficult to find a more breathtaking place to live.
Having said all of this, the one thing that has transformed us from “big-city residents” to small-town living are the people. Everyone waves. Did you know it’s a fact that when a stranger waves to you it brings an immediate smile? People transport their dogs in the back of pickups! People talk to you on the streets, in the grocery store, at the bank, in restaurants, at church with no fear of the response they will get. They smile, offer to help, never push past you to hurry and get to where they are going. Everyone is on a similar pace.
One of our main reasons for transplanting our family to the mountains was to introduce our granddaughter to a different atmosphere. She attended a huge school in metro Cincinnati. With about 3,000 students in her Montessori junior and high school. She had a circle of friends. Here she has a freshman class of 67 friends. She has enjoyed playing softball, joined the FFA, and plans to enjoy snowboarding with friends. Her pace of life is different, simply because she wants to be part of everything.
Each of us left our lifetime behind to attain something different; not because we were unhappy where we were, quite the contrary. We loved our lives, our friends and neighbors. But here, well, here is a unique kind of different. I have downloaded John Mellencamp’s” Living in a Small Town” song because it sings to my heart. We have become part of it, of this “small town,” From the Outside…In. And we are loving it.
Pat's Wit and Wisdom 