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November 11 The DilemaLiving in the country creates a bit of a dilema for me. Recently it has become more of a mini crisis as I face a 500.00 gas bill for gas for two cars this month. My husband works in a nearby town that is 45 minutes away. He takes his car and I'm left with a car here to transport my three teens to their various activities and to run errands. I've also had to drive to another town to visit an aunt who is ill and separated from her family (I'm now the closest person to her). All this means using more and more gasoline to get to these places.
I love living in the country but I'm seeing that I'll need to begin to make some very tough decisions here. And my children will also have to have a change in their mindset. They think nothing of having to drive to town in the evening to visit friends or go to some activity.
My husband and I have discussed moving to the town he works in but that would mean uprooting our three teenagers, selling our home, and starting all over in another community. His job is such that he can't chose to work in the town closest to us, so he can't move his job. This brings us back to staying here and adjusting our behavior to reduce our driving.
Here are a few things I've realized. We've isolated ourselves with the way we use our cars. Think about it, we used to take trains and buses (with other people obviously). My mom talks about how she used to ride to town with other people who were headed that way. She'd take care of her business and wait until her ride was ready to go. She'd pass the time by visiting with someone, going to the library, or stopping in the local soda shop to have something. Now, I have no delusions that we'll return to that slow paced life. But, things might actually slow down a bit if we have to wait for each other so we can travel together. And we might just develop better relationships with people if we have to spend time riding in the car for a while. We'll have to have much better communication between family members to coordinate errands with other trips to town. Maybe I'll have to see if any of my neighbors will want to share rides to town. And I'll have to plan my meetings to so I'm going the same direction as my children at the same time. I'm not sure but I think this is all a good thing. Uncomfortable yes, but good. Comments (1)
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