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.

I'm Seeing Sasquatches Everywhere...

 I saw the first one a few weeks ago on one of our Sunday drives. Someone put up a huge metal Bigfoot near his mailbox. I only saw it and realized what it was as we drove by. I made a mental note to try and snap a picture of it on the trip back home. The problem was, we took another way home so I missed out on preserving the memory of the metal Sasquatch.

Turns out, these metal Bigfeet are much more abundant than the actual Bigfoot.

We started seeing them everywhere.

Okay, when I say "everywhere," I don't literally mean everywhere, even though we have seen more than I would have thought possible. The next week on our next weekly Sunday drive, we saw another one--this time, on the side of a garage. Once again, I was unable to get a picture of it. However, I did make sure to drive by it on our way home. We pulled over and I took a couple of pictures.

The other night my son had an activity with the church youth and as I drove out of the parking lot after dropping him off, a metal Bigfoot stood there, across the street in the yard of a house. And these things are not small--they must be six feet tall, at least. Then, as we traveled home tonight, a van passed us with a Bigfoot sticker in the back window.

Maybe there's a secret group that manufactures and distributes these large Sasquatches and eventually, once we're residents long enough, we'll be able to join those who proudly display their metal monuments.

And if we can, that'll be cool.

Our Trip To Snowville...

 We went on another driving tour last Sunday. In the past month, we drove north to Idaho, east to Logan, west to Promontory Point, and so the last major road heading out of town goes northwest.

We drove to Snowville, Utah.

And there isn't much there.

This should in no way be interpreted as a slight against Snowville. I'll bet if you asked anyone who lives in Snowville they would say the same thing. It is not a big town. Search the town's population and as of the last census in 2010 the population was 167.

167.

I wonder if there's still that many people living there. You exit Interstate 84, turn north and you'll see two gas stations and a diner. There's also a restaurant that's closed on Sundays. We kept driving north for a mile or so. We passed several homes and the smallest elementary school we'd ever seen.

I have so much respect for people who live in these small communities. They each have a story (as do we all...) and I'm sure there are some fascinating people there...

Just not that many.