Oklahoma Dreaming: Highs and Lows
by Donna Schoenkopf
I am still amazed with little things I run into as a resident of a small town. Actually, I'm not even IN town, I'm four miles outside of Tecumseh, but I DO go into town for errands and social stuff. Thought I'd give you a little taste of what it's like.
HIGH: Went into Ralph's drugstore for the first time a couple of weeks ago. From the moment I stepped through the door till the moment I climbed back into my car, a total of EIGHT MINUTES had elapsed. No one in line ahead of me. No prescriptions being called in over the phone keeping pharmacist guy busy, just me and the middle-aged nice lady at the counter taking my prescription and pharmacist guy somewhere back there, behind stuff, filling that prescription.
LOW: Ralph's Pharmacy smells like stale cigarettes. And it's kinda junky.
HIGH: Ralph's Pharmacy has a stack of really nice “Ralph's Pharmacy” paper on a table with a sign that says, “Take Some.”
LOW: I have now received THREE notices from Rural Water District #3 telling me that the water doesn't pass cleanliness tests. Something about chlorine mixing with organic matter and creating nasty substances. And it's begun to smell like rotten eggs coming out of the faucet.
HIGH: There is ALWAYS a parking space. AND no traffic. Ever. When you pull up to a stop sign, there is NEVER anyone else on the opposite side. (Okay, I exaggerate. But just a LITTLE!)
LOW: People go slow ALL the time. Including on the highway. Fifty mph can be aggravating when there is absolutely no one around except you and the other car IN FRONT OF YOU!
HIGH: Everybody knows stuff about you.
LOW: Everybody knows stuff about you.
HIGH: Even though the town only has about 5,000 people, there still is a sweet library, with a fabulous computer system for the public. Government again heeding the Constitution which says it should promote the general welfare.
LOW: There are very few good restaurants in town. Most everything is high fat, fried, meat, hardly any fresh vegetables. Fried pickles and fried corn on the cob are on the menu. There are more chain burger joints than anything else.
HIGH: They DO have dynamite barbecued ribs.
LOW: Oklahoma is high on the national list for obesity. Second or eighth, depending on which list you read.
HIGH: There IS a great little Korean restaurant in Shawnee. It's converted from part of a gas station. It's very funky from the outside. Inside, it is small and quaint. There is a table loaded with magazines. A little old Korean woman owns the restaurant and cooks, takes your orders, and cleans up. Nobody else is working there. She plays Christian music and asks if you're saved. I told her I was an atheist. She gave me a brief sermonette about how God loved me. She makes the most delicious food. Reminds me of my childhood in Hawaii. I love her. And her food. The people in there are regulars and love her and her place, too. The chop chae is outstanding.
LOW: Even though there are LITERALLY over one hundred churches (way over) in the vicinity, the crime rate is through the roof. LOTS of thievery, murder and mayhem. No wonder people lock their doors here. One of these days I might start locking mine. Just can't get used to doing it, though.
HIGH: People LOVE to socialize here. Lots of invitations to parties and functions. WAY more than in California.
LOW: Use of pesticides, herbicides is intense. Some people take pride in using outlawed substances. Instead of living with the bugs, they nuke 'em.
HIGH: In spite of the use of pesticides and herbicides, there is such a plethora of life here that I am amazed constantly. I see something new EVERY DAY. A new bug, a new flower, a new kind of grass, a new mushroom. Most days I see several new things. I had no idea how much wildlife had been eliminated in the city until I started living on virgin land. You know, monoculturalism (vast stretches of just one form of life) leads to death. Why, you ask? Because disease can spread through a homogeneous population very quickly. If you have different life forms, some get sick, some don't. Protect yourself and those you love by having LOTS of different kinds of life around you.
LOW: Almost every day I get bug bites. Small price to pay, darlin'.
HIGH: Wildflowers and other plant life arrange themselves into beautiful vignettes without a bit of help from me or anyone else. I am amazed with the artistry of Nature's work. Gorgeous.
LOW: It is really, really, really, really, REALLY hot and humid here. I can barely get any work done outside before I am completely exhausted and dehydrated. Sweat POURS off of me. I turn my head and sweat flies off like bullets. It collects on my back and legs and arms and neck and EVERYWHERE. I hadn't sweated at all in California. The air there is too dry for casual sweating. Here, all I have to do is BREATHE, and I sweat.
HIGH: The plants really love the heat and humidity. It's the tropics. They turn their faces to the sun and sink their roots deep and THRIVE!
HIGH: There are seasons here. Soon it will start to cool. I feel the barest hint of not quite so much heat.
LOW: But when the autumn comes the beauty of the luscious landscape will shrivel and die. Autumn here is a bunch of brown leaves. Hardly any color. It's not New England.
HIGH: The quiet here is not quiet. I hear birds, breezes, frogs, insects, coyotes, things from far away and things outside my windows. The sounds are amazing. Bird song is thrilling. Seriously.
LOW: LOTS of people get killed on the highway here. At first I couldn't understand it. There is NOBODY on the road!!! What the hell?!!?? Then I realized that MY guard dropped after I got used to having the road to myself. I got lazy. Sloppy. Distracted. And not only that, there are a lot of drinkers out here on the road. WHAM. Didn't see it coming.
HIGH: It is affordable here. Even I can afford it. I saw an ad in the paper for a large house for sale, cable installed, five acres, nice house ... just $10 down and $100 a month for five years. Seriously. Of course, it's WAY out in the country. But that's what you want, isn't it?
So ... what do you think?
LOW: It's not all gravy,
HIGH: But I sure like it.
LOW: Wish my kids were here, though. I miss them terribly.
HIGH: Luckily we have phones. And nowadays long distance is a small flat rate.
Still, I want to show them things. The bugs and the flowers and the birds and the frogs. They said they'd come, but I knew it would be a long time. Their lives are full, it costs a lot in time and money.
And life just goes on without each other.
donna@fourstory.org
Comments
Well, that’s just sad.
2008-11-10 by John Schoenkopf