When comparing the terms "city boy" and "country boy" I have to admit that I would have been classified more as a "city boy". I grew up only 20 miles from Cincinnati, Ohio and just 10 miles from Florence, KY. I did not, however, spend that much time in the city, exactly. But I had my share of "city" activities. We went to Cincinnati to visit my grandparents and aunt several times a year and my brother and I spent many summers with them for a week or two at a time growing up. We also made occasional trips to the Zoo and various museums and Bengals and Reds games and special events happening down town. There were even more things for us to do in Florence at the YMCA as well as all the stores and shopping centers there.
I don't think the term "city boy" perfectly applied to me, however, because I actually grew up in the country! We lived only a half-mile from I-75, but it was country nonetheless. We lived on 18 wooded acres that was once a farm. We were surrounded on all sides by farmland and across the street was Oak Hills Dairy Farm, which was a very beautiful, robust, working dairy farm; I actually spent some wonderful summers working on the farm there. Mom usually put out a large garden, and it seemed that she always did very well with it. She canned food and made blackberry jam and did all sorts of things that we are trying to do now. But, nonetheless, I could not have been called a "country boy"; I was, in fact, a "city boy"!
I guess it had more to do with my frame of mind. Looking back at it, I am very displeased with myself that I did not take advantage of the opportunities all around me. I did not care about gardening and I did not work in the garden much at all, even though it would have pleased Mom greatly. I did work on the dairy farm bailing hay, working in tobacco, and various odd jobs, and I was a hard worker! I just did not have the thirst for knowledge about farming that I do now. If only I would have been more observant and asked more questions while I was there. I could have learned so much that I would use today! Now that I want to know about farming principles, I barely have time to read up on things, and reading is such a far cry from actually seeing things done and doing them yourself. Most of growing up, with all that farm country around me, I mainly just wanted to stay in the house and play hundreds of video games and read thousands of comic books and watch countless hours of TV! There were fishing ponds around, too, and people did go hunting. I could have found numerous people who would have been happy to show me how to do things like that, but I was not interested. The time or two I did go fishing, I was not happy about it and did not learn anything that I can use now! I was a "city boy" at heart.
All that being said, I did enjoy sitting by the creek in the woods during the fall (when there weren't many bugs out). I also fell in love with mountains on several family vacations to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and one awesome three-week trip to Yellow Stone and Grand Teeton National Parks, among other places. Back then I thought I would like to live in the mountains in Wyoming or Tennessee one day.
After I married my wonderful and beautiful wife, Lisa, we lived in Berea, Kentucky for a short time. This was the first time that we lived in the midst of some marvelous mountains, in the foothills of the Appalachians. Every time I would drive toward our house on Scaffold Cane Road I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road because the majesty of the mountains always distracted me. I guess I knew back then that I would only be happy living near some mountains.
I had been saved (born again Christian) at that time for a couple of years and I had begun to yearn for a simpler life close to God. I felt closest to Him when I was away from the hustle and bustle of civilization out in the middle of the woods. As a matter of fact, I met God for the first time in a secluded wooded area out under a big oak tree near the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee where I was born again! God was making me into a "mountain man"!
I am not really much of a mountain man, I guess. My wife, Lisa, has called me "her mountain man" for quite a long time, mainly because I love to be out in the mountains so much. I was very pleased to be living amongst the abundance of hills around here in eastern Kentucky after we moved to this area in 1992. I have only recently been trying to acquire some mountain man type skills, and I am a slow learner. I have run a trotline, killed a squirrel, shot at turkeys and bought a muzzleloader for deer season, but I am still a long way off from being a true "mountain man" of folklore.
Right now I have a "mountain man" mind set, anyway. That is half of the journey, I believe. The "city boy" frame of mind has long ago been tossed aside. If you are looking for me now-a-days you will probably not find me playing a video game or reading a comic book or watching TV; just look for me somewhere in my mountains, around Pure Water Hollow.
3 comments
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Homestead Originals... on September 23, 2006 at 9:43 am
GREAT Post–thanks for sharing! WELCOME to Homestead Blogger
Blessings to you n yours….
Lisa
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mc2rwe on September 25, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I pray that God continues to bless you and your family. My mother and father are both from Kentucky and most of my relatives still live there near the Henderson area.
Kathy
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Livin'theMontanaDream on September 27, 2006 at 12:02 am
Like you, we have the "mountain man" mindset. If it sounds like something a mountain man would need to do, well then we'd better learn how to do it too! My husband and son are trying to learn how to tan a hide. They practiced on rabbits and squirrels this summer with no real success but they will keep going at it until they get it right.We love living in this gorgeous area surrounded by beauty that just never stops. It IS hard to keep your eyes on the road sometimes.
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