City Driving vs. County Driving

City Driving vs. County Driving
 I was raised as a city driver. Traffic Jams during rush hour and construction in the summer are in the my blood. If I get a red light down Tecumseh or Wyondotte, I would get them all. Everyone knows this. If I lucked out and hit a green, it would be smooth sailing from there. Unless of course someone cut in front of me and decided to take a scenic 40km/h.
 Not an aggressive driver, but from years of patiently waiting in an impatient fury I noticed my stomach would tighten up, I would clench my teeth and my hands would search for a cigarette in the bottom of my purse. Classic rock became a genre of music I gladly learned to appreciate because listening to the same old pop and talk stations was starting to drive me nuts. Songs would get stuck in my head, even after I became sick of them. Oh yeah, not to mention my c.d. collection grew from a measly 5 to 200. All for the sake of making waiting enjoyable.
 The city culture of driving is an interesting one. Everyone is in a hurry, and nobody really wants to stay or be where they are. Well, maybe not everyone. Maybe just me?
 So I migrated over to the country. No, not because of smooth sailing driving. Other reasons of course. But I noticed nonetheless that my commutes were quicker, regardless of the longer distance. My heart rate slowed and my appreciation for large uninterrupted fields of farm land grew. Taking a deep breathe and actually breathing in air, not the smog or heat emanating from the cars next to mine.
 A quick and calm adventure. But this isn’t my home. I realized that because I spend a lot of time in my tin can of a red van, my home is nowhere, but everywhere. A gypsy existence of to and fro. Identifying with the journey but not completely consumed. I think that the set of circumstances that has led me to the county helped me realize the difference between a close mass of metal and advertisements and people and being alone and free.
 A reflection on the needs of both. The inevitability of both and the choice that most people make. The city is always expanding, suburbs are sprouting like weeds and with them, shops, convenience stores, gas stations, outlets and everything else brought on by consumerism.
 Practicing blatant localism is almost impossible, because as an idea or place grows with popularity everybody wants a piece of it. Nobody, it seems, wants to do it for themselves. Everybody, it seems, is too busy working an endless job to support their habit of consuming. But its nobody’s fault. It is a cycle that once you get into its hard to break free from. Anybody wanting to live off their own land has to start from scratch, and this is extremely difficult after living a pampered lifestyle.
 Ah, but the drive. The simple act of driving away from the chaos and into the simple. How can one find a balance between the two?