I just came back from a wondrously relaxing weekend (almost-weekend) with my Future Neighbors up in western Massachusetts, which is the locale I plan to retire to in not that many years.
It is so beneficial to get away from that workaday grind, and those workaday attitudes, to go where you, and everyone around you, can be real. No games, no status, kick off those shoes, laugh, and be with people who are truly friends -- mutually, which is the only way this friendship thing works.
There's something beautiful about this: no rush, no muss, no fuss. Unbidden, we all took turns in cleanup. Thanksgiving dinner saw about thirty odd (odd?) people, and a hike in the woods. Some stayed 'till Friday, which alas was a rainy day. But the warmth of conversation and jokes saw this through. Saturday -- snow. Not much, and it didn't stick to roadways. Those of us who remained continued conversation of community, health, cats, the degeneration of the Matrix series from concept to special effect excuse, television pros and cons, history, and so forth...
I have purchased inexpensive land up in this wilderness of civility. It is here I hope someday soon to build a homestead that blends into this world, both environmentally and socially. Western Massachusetts, as I see it, blends in elements of a lot of positive things. There's a lot of "liberal" live as you wish thinking; there's a lot of "conservative" old time politeness and self-reliance here. It's got that small-town connectivity, too.
I'm looking forward. I truly am.
