Give Thanks...Small Towns

 Another Sunday, another Sunday drive. Last week we ventured a little north and a little east and found ourselves driving through the quaint hamlet of Beaver Dam, Utah. We'd driven past it several times going from Tremonton to Logan on State Road 30.

But, you can't see the town unless you leave the road.

We're surrounded by small towns. We've visited many of them over the past several months on our little Sunday drives. There's a feeling you get when you travel along the small, two-lane roads, pass by the small-ish (mostly...) homes, see how people live in these towns. 

I grew up in a small town--it was much smaller back then. Back then, we'd have to leave to go see a movie, to pick up speciality items (think hardware store...), and the like. Now, things have completely changed. That small town isn't small anymore. When we travel through these small Northern Utah towns, I think of the kids who grow up in them. The parents...well, they probably chose to live there and they stay because it suits them. But the kids...they don't have a choice.

I've met many people who have grown up in small towns. I've met them because they left those towns and moved into a larger city. The opinions I heard are most likely biased because those with whom I spoke didn't like the small town life. They left. When I drive through these small towns, I wonder if the kids want to leave or are they content to stay. I'm sure there are those that hate living where they are--there are always unhappy people.

Things have changed since I was a kid (cue old man voice...). We couldn't wait until we were sixteen, had our drivers license in our velcro wallets, and had a car to get us places, movies, dances, eating out. Life at home was...in a word to a teenager...boring. Now, life at home is anything but. The entire world is available to a teenager. Many not only don't want a license, they don't necessarily want to drive at all. The whole concept seems so foreign.

Beaver Dam is halfway between Tremonton and Logan...three places most in the wold have never heard of. I'm grateful for small towns. The people there choose a different life, tougher in some ways, but much simpler in others. They are independent, proud and humble at the same time. In many ways I envy them, envy that simplicity. Many of the people I know who left small towns because it wasn't their thing might not understand our decision to leave "civilization" for cleaner air and less traffic. I'm glad these small towns still exist. They're really special.