Everybody thinks I'm crazy....

I've moved my family to Geraldine.  Population 266 at last count.  There's not much here to people that don't truly look.  There's one bar/cafe, one feed store that has fuel pumps so we don't get stranded, one bank with one banker, one school for all grades and there was one grocery store....but it burned down.  There are two churches.  One Methodist and one Catholic, of which I am neither.  I feel closest to Baptist these days so I'll have to drive 70 miles each way on Sundays. 

There's a lot more that Geraldine doesn't have.  Traffic, or traffic lights for that matter. Half of the streets here aren't even paved.  When I happen to drive down the streets I am almost always the only one on them.  My little boy and I walked right down  the center of the streets while trick-o-treating as many houses as we possibly could.  We would run across other little kids that would smile and wave and shout "Happy Halloween!" to us as we went by.  They went down the middle of the streets too....

No one in Geraldine is wandering around talking on their cell phones.  No one in the cafe is preoccupied with their text messages while trying to eat dinner with their families.  Teenagers here have their eyes up, look at you and say hello!!!  They aren't lost in a virtual world....  That's right folks, there's no cell service in Geraldine.  You have to drive up the highway 6 miles to get a decent signal.  They say by 2013 they will have service here.  I really hope it doesn't happen.

I can safely say there are no "big, fancy houses" in Geraldine.  Some homes are well cared for, for sure.  Many have been updated and fixed up since they were originally built.  Many are also abandoned and starting to crumble.  I regularly walk past two cute little old houses when I'm taking my son to the park. They are both empty and seem so sad.  There aren't far away from being perfectly livable, yet they have no one.  How tragic we have people in this country with no homes and homes with no people.

I just bought a house that is 95 years old and was part of the original township that was founded in 1913.  It's just a small farmhouse that has had the good fortune of having people who cared enough to update her plumbing, wiring and insulation. She'll need a new roof pretty soon, the siding needs replaced and there are some cracks in the foundation. This fact seems to worry my father a lot.  But I'm pretty sure if she's been standing almost 100 years, she's not falling down tomorrow.  The house and I are both in desperate need of revitalization.  I think as I restore the house, I will be restored as well. Cliche?

My children are going to attend the simple, country school that happens to have computers and Smart Boards in every class.  My Kindergarten son is the 6th pupil in his class.  There was only one other little boy and he is thrilled to finally have a buddy.  Support for the school is off the charts here.  They girls volleyball team was just thrown a huge pep rally and parade that sent them off for the state finals.  I think everyone in town was there!  My little boy was very proud to be allowed to participate.  Imagine that!  Kindergarteners right there with the high school kids all supporting the team!  Another thing Geraldine doesn't have....gangs.  Just kids in cowboy boots and pick up trucks.

Because I bought a house "in town", my horses have to be boarded 2 minutes away at the edge of town.  A wonderful, kind neighbor had just the place for them.  I can throw a saddle on and head out to ride and literally NEVER run out of trail.  The dirt roads and tracks head up to the BLM land and the Highwood Mountains.  Miles of rolling wheat fields, pastures and hills.  My horses think they are in heaven... I know they are.

More next time....