Small Town, USA

When I told some of my friends and family from ‘back home,’ as in Grand Rapids, that I would be moving back down to Indiana in August, they were thinking the same thing I was. Location was not first choice. Don’t get me wrong, I would give anything to work at this elementary school, and I was thrilled to be able to be with those same people who I student taught with, but small town Indiana was just the place I was so excited to get out of in May.

You see, Indiana is nothing like Grand Rapids; nothing. There is no beach, the culture is way different, and let’s just say I learned quickly how Amish do what they do and what a combine was during my freshman year. Different. After college, I never in a million years would have guessed I would be back down here, but isn’t that always how it goes? Suddenly this fall, I have at least 100 reason why (yes, I am actually saying this…) I enjoy Huntington County/Allen County and this good old small town Indiana life.

I guess it was about two and a half weeks ago that I realized it. Teaching was going great, and seeing my best friends on a weekly basis was not half bad, either. But, it still wasn’t Michigan. My drive to school in the mornings still consisted of passing by cornfields and passing slow moving tractors when I had to go down the country road because a train was passing by on the main road. Great for college life, but for post college life? Nah…I always thought I would be somewhere else. But on that morning, the air was crisp, it was a Friday, and I was bringing apples to my class to celebrate Roanoke’s (population SMALL) Fall Festival that weekend. For the first time, at least in a while, I really embraced this Indiana culture. To my right and left there were harvested cornfields, and flat as they may be, they were beautiful. Behind me was the most beautiful sunrise I could imagine; the kind that truly made you excited to be alive. And ahead of me was the precious little town of Roanoke where everyone knows everyone and the upcoming tractor pull was the biggest current event of the month. Right as it hit me that I actually may be enjoying this scenery, this song came on (it’s weird how that happens, huh?). It came on as I was flipping stations, and honestly, I began listening to it because I like to make fun of my friend, Lindsay, who has grown up a farm girl her whole life. Here are some of the verses:

Mailbox at the end of a dirt road
Hiding a sign on the Side of a silo
Old dog on a grain truck flat bed
Power lines cut across the sunset
Running from the highway to the house

Ain't nothing but cornfields
Stretching out as far as you can see
Up ahead behind and in between

Ain't nothing but cornfields
the turn road where I first tasted whiskey
Is the same place Mary more than kissed me

Ain't nothing but cornfields
Stretching out as far as you can see
Up ahead behind and in between

Ain't nothing but a half-ton town
Dusty main street and a flashing light
Anybody who's just passing by

Ain't nothing but cornfields

I used to sit out on the road side
Dreaming and thinking
Watch the headlights fly by
Without even blinking
And stare off at the sunset and think about leaving
but I never did
No, I never did
Yeah, this is who I am

As the song ended I realized that cornfields and small town life is not who I am deep down, but it is a part of College Erica, and Fall/Winter 2011 Erica, and since that moment, there is no other place I would rather be than in Small Town, USA.