Small towns...

So, I read a friend's blog earlier today, and I realized that I aspired to have better writing skills. I'm missing academia- the place where I was forced felt to write, and become a better person. The place that I actually got challenged, and somehow managed to get things done. A place where some of my professors became my best friends, my allies when I needed them the most. A place where the only people who cared were my closest friends. There were trees, and it is probably beginning to smell like fall; the feel of football season is in their air. Now, I live in small town Eastern Montana, where people who don't even know my name seem to know of my presence, and seem to care that I exist. This is a new feeling- a sense of community that I am not used to, nor do I long to feel accustomed to it. I miss being in a place where nobody really cared too much about me, or my actions. I live in a place where people begin to recognize you by how you travel (car, truck, bike, ect.), and eventually begin to recognize and attempt to have conversations with you. Then, they begin to identify you by the people you hang out with.("Aren't you dating so and so?" No!) Pretty soon, one begins to feel their judgment slowly seeping in- your lawn is too long, you're slightly more progressive than anyone else on the block, you ride a bike and don't eat meat (does that mean you're a hippy? hippies aren't supposed to have obvious vices! and you do!)

My apartment is small and white. It has a personality of its own- the cupboards are kind of wobbly, and the bathroom appears to be slowly falling apart. There is a huge (compared to where I've been) closet, and a "bedroom" big enough for... maybe, half of a twin bed. The kitchen is kind of nice, despite the lack of counter space. The living room doubles as a bedroom, complete with a built-in book case. A cat has been passing its time in my apartment as well- I can hopefully find Zeus' real home soon. (He followed me home the other day- and now won't leave me alone. He's very sweet, and needy for a cat.) I don't mind fostering it for a while, but the thought of becoming responsible for another life on a long term basis, even just a cat's life, makes me feel slightly uncomfortable....

This is where I'm at. For a year.