Living in a Small Town

I was born and raised in Shawnee Kansas back when that city was a very small town.  Our home was was located on the far eastern limits of the city.  To the east lay only woods and creeks until you reached the railroad tracks and I-35.  I can still remember lying in bed on a hot summer night, hearing the trains pass by so loudly I felt they were in my backyard.  Occasionally deer would wander out of the woods and into our yard. 

There was nothing but trees, trails and creeks in those woods.  Occasionally a gypsy family would take up residency in them.  Today we would call them homeless.  I remember a couple of kids my age that lived in the woods with their parents.  They were dirt poor, living in a small pull-behind trailer.  They would come into my neighborhood to play quite often.  On the day their mother washed their clothes, they would only have a rug wrapped around them. 

I was prohibited from playing in the woods.  It didn't stop me though.  I remember many days swimming or seining for crawdads down in Turkey Creek nearly a mile from the house.  But a day came when a housing developer bought the land and began building houses where once stood only trees.  About the same time, Shawnee began to grow from a small post-war baby-boom 2-bedroom housing community into a medium size city with full business district.  Crown Drugs removed it soda fountain and replaced it with additional aisles of consumer products.  Vans Food Store doubled in size and became the area's first superstore.  The nearby Shawnee Mission Parkway exploded with new businesses.  Ben Franklin's five and dime store closed.  Gambles, Coast to Coast and other department store chains took their turn doing business just a short distance from my home.  I no longer lived in a small town.

But I did continue to live in Shawnee for many years.  Terri and I bought our first home less than a mile from my childhood home.  We lived there 15 years.  Both Lyndy and Allison were born while living in that small 2 bedroom home that we improved with a third bedroom and second bathroom.  But eventually, we sold our home and moved to Overland Park, which was and still is the second largest city in Kansas.  We lived there for 14 more years.

Then in 2007, Terri and I move to Basehor.  Our 5 minute commute grew to 35 minutes.  At first I did not enjoy the drive, but have recently grown accustomed to it. I use the drive in to plan out my day.  The drive home I use as a time to wind down. 

By any definition, Basehor is a small town.  On any given weekend, the biggest thing going on in Basehor is breakfast or dinner at the VFW, a new farm, quilt or Indian exhibit at the local museum, or the annual Dairy Days that comes around every summer.  The high school will have a craft show each year and of course the high school sports are still big events to the locals.

Living in Basehor is a lot like my childhood growing up in Shawnee.  It is quiet at night.  Traffic is low.  Hearing a siren is rare.  To the east lie every type of business we might need, but to the west lie only farm land and woods.  Basehor is more like a small town than it's neighbors to the south, Bonner Springs, or to the east, Kansas City Kansas. 

We found ourselves getting excited when a grocery store moved in a couple blocks from our house.  We were then disappointed when it closed within 7 months because there was not enough business to sustain it.  Now we have a Dollar General opening a few blocks away.  I think it should make it given the demographics of Basehor.  You see, most of the Basehor citizens have lived here for years.  Many lived here most or all of their lives.  Many have a farmer heritage.  Teeth are considered signs of opulence, and the local dentist offers an express line for those with 3 teeth or less (thanks Larry the Cable Guy).  Truck farms still set up along highways over weekends.  Deer sightings in the neighbor hood are fairly common.  The similarities to Shawnee of 40-50 years ago are many.

I like living in a small town.