Community

[Dave]

How many of you live in a community? Do you really know what a community is like? There was a baby shower for our neighbors here last night. There must have been close to 200 people. There was people from both sides of the family in attendance. There was coworkers of the expecting mother. But both of those groups were out numbered by members of the community. Our post office serves 130 people. That is every man, woman, and child within 20 miles. Last week there was a 25th wedding anniversary for a local couple. Well over 100 people there. Again some family but more members of the community in attendance. Weddings, funerals, anniversary, baby shower, or birthday party this community steps up and shows ups to support each other. 66 years of living in western Washington I never witnessed anything like this community. We are truly blessed to live here. And anyone who was here long enough to experience it would want it in their life too.

 

[TCRanch]

After living in big cities most of my life, I'll never go back. "Community" can be 10 - 1000's; it's all relative. But in my community, people come together to support their neighbors, friends and people they don't even know. A lot of funerals are held at the High School auditorium - with additional folding chairs in the foyer. I'm sure you've heard of Pay It Forward, and it's not uncommon at all for the vehicle in front of me to buy my iced coffee at the McDonald's drive through, or I'll make a donation in someone else' name, numerous charity events, etc.

Out of the blue last week, a crew of neighbors showed up with 2 Hustlers and mowed/trimmed the entire barnyard and around the house. They know I've got my hands full right now (and that our Hustler scares the bejesus outta me). It's just what people do around here and I'm truly blessed.

 

[Ky hills]

Used to be around here, neighbors and people that lived fairly close would visit often and a lot times help each other with major projects, like hay and tobacco or back a little farther timewise, hog killings. More recent years, not so much, still sometimes individuals that move here are more open than the locals. The most sense of community that we have seen has come from our church family. We started going to a country church a few years ago, and during the time that my mother's health was declining, members of our new church family, mowed our yard, brought food in while she was in the hospital and we were there with her. Some sat with my mother after she was home from the hospital. if we had to go run business errands.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Our "community" is much smaller . In the little 3 mile stretch between my house and my cows I'm the young kid on the block (by almost 40yrs) the neighbors all keep an eye out for me. If a cow even has a her head between the barb wires I get a call from every neighbor that drives by.
When it snows they all know I'll be by to plow their driveways. My pay? A cup of coffee or homemade cookies .
I have keys to everyone's house. If someone hasn't been seen for a day, I get the phone call to go check in on them.

 

[Chevy]

I don't even know 100-200 people much less 10 people I like.
We had 8 or 9 neighbors died in the past couple years. Most them had some kind of cancer. We been the youngest ones around here for a while. I say neighbors they aren't close to us. We bought up all our neighbors so we are all our neighbors. We just hang with ourselves.

 

[wbvs58]

I get along real well with all my neighbours on our road and help them out when I can, my wife is the opposite, she will hide to avoid them, thankfully she is not up here with me all the time. It is sad being like that, her mother has been left a lonely old woman once all her sisters died.

Ken

 

[TCRanch]

Our "community" is much smaller . In the little 3 mile stretch between my house and my cows I'm the young kid on the block (by almost 40yrs) the neighbors all keep an eye out for me. If a cow even has a her head between the barb wires I get a call from every neighbor that drives by.
When it snows they all know I'll be by to plow their driveways. My pay? A cup of coffee or homemade cookies .
I have keys to everyone's house. If someone hasn't been seen for a day, I get the phone call to go check in on them.

How 'bout a goat? I've lost count how many times I find one of my neighbors goats stuck. I'll call him & give the tag number so he can check on it later, make sure it's okay. If he doesn't answer, I'll text a pic of said goat.

I think most of our close neighbors either know where our key is hidden or the combination - on the rare occasion I actually lock the house.

 

[SBMF 2015]

How 'bout a goat? I've lost count how many times I find one of my neighbors goats stuck. I'll call him & give the tag number so he can check on it later, make sure it's okay. If he doesn't answer, I'll text a pic of said goat.

I think most of our close neighbors either know where our key is hidden or the combination - on the rare occasion I actually lock the house.

I am not a fan of goats, hahaha. My Gf thinks we need two of everything, and wants goats in the worst way.
One neighbor does have sheep. That I get in on hauling, and shearing, and square baling for. Their pretty easy to catch if they get out though. Just rattle a bucket.

 

[Ky hills]

I am not a fan of goats, hahaha. My Gf thinks we need two of everything, and wants goats in the worst way.
One neighbor does have sheep. That I get in on hauling, and shearing, and square baling for. Their pretty easy to catch if they get out though. Just rattle a bucket.

I don't mind having a few pet goats, but they can be a aggravating pain for sure. Had several sheep at one point. You are right about shaking a feed bucket. Had the whole group of 60 some ewes and around 100 lambs walk through a gate that forgot to shut. I was in a state of panic for a few seconds till I rattled the bucket I was carrying and the mutton tide turned and followed me right back through the gate. Loading them to sell was always an adventure.

 

[Mrcopier]

Very nice stories everyone, I envy you

 

[herofan]

I don't even know 100-200 people much less 10 people I like.
We had 8 or 9 neighbors died in the past couple years. Most them had some kind of cancer. We been the youngest ones around here for a while. I say neighbors they aren't close to us. We bought up all our neighbors so we are all our neighbors. We just hang with ourselves.

I'm more like you. I'm probably acquainted with or know a few hundred people, but to say I'm close to that many people, I am not. I like a handful of family and friends that I'm close with. I did some singing with my group at a wedding recently, and there was 300 people there. I said that I could never come up with 300 people that I honestly would feel genuine about inviting to an event I had. If I had to attend very many functions with hundreds of people, I'd probably jump off a bridge instead. I'd rather have 20 close people that 200

With that said, I see nothing wrong with it if you like that kind of thing. It's just not me.

 

[Chevy]

I'm more like you. I'm probably acquainted with or know a few hundred people, but to say I'm close to that many people, I am not. I like a handful of family and friends that I'm close with. I did some singing with my group at a wedding recently, and there was 300 people there. I said that I could never come up with 300 people that I honestly would feel genuine about inviting to an event I had. If I had to attend very many functions with hundreds of people, I'd probably jump off a bridge instead. I'd rather have 20 close people that 200

With that said, I see nothing wrong with it if you like that kind of thing. It's just not me.

I agree whatever works for ya'll. I'm not big on socialize. If it requires getting dress, being there at a certain time, and people most likely I'm busy. I'm really just a homebody. Not to say I don't enjoy talking to people just not big on going to weddings , baby showers, ect. That's cool ya'll have that. I like to just stay to myself. I don't have Facebook most people don't understand that. I'm non existence.

 

[herofan]

I agree whatever works for ya'll. I'm not big on socialize. If it requires getting dress, being there at a certain time, and people most likely I'm busy. I'm really just a homebody. Not to say I don't enjoy talking to people just not big on going to weddings , baby showers, ect. That's cool ya'll have that. I like to just stay to myself. I don't have Facebook most people don't understand that. I'm non existence.

I can relate. I find it interesting how people are wired so differently. I remember several years ago a lady at school talking about going to her husband's family reunion. She said he came from a small family, and she thought his get-togethers were sad because there wasn't very many people there. I was genuinely stumped for a while, because I always thought that was the good thing about it and not a sad thing.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Considering all my relatives up to 7th cousin are close family if we got together there would be 30,000 people !
One clan had a 500 year in 2014. I think they are still fighting Pinkie Cleugh. Meself, not so much....

 

[Dave]

Community is not just weddings and funerals. Although those are a reason to get together and always have one heck of a good meal. Community is getting together at each others brandings in the spring because it is pretty tough duty to brand 400+ calves by yourself. And if your neighbors come help you brand, well you go help them brand theirs. And doing it together makes it fun instead of work. Community is when some has a wreck and breaks some bones everyone else puts their hay up for them. Community is when you have a vehicle break down someone loans you their spare until yours gets fixed. I could go on.

Last year I was rebuilding my corral. That was 40-50 new RR ties for posts and over 300 lodge pole pine rails to attach. Two different neighbors separate from each other told me that when I got all of my supplies ready to let them know. They would organize a work party to build the corral in a day. I didn't do that because I am retired and have plenty of time. But what is it worth to know that you can make that call. And you can make the call when ever and for what ever you need.

Last winter I was talking to one of the neighbors. I mentioned that I was having to put my old dog down later that day. This place is an old river bed and digging a grave in the rock was going to be tough. He said that he was going to pick up his backhoe (40 miles away) later and he would leave right now. Shortly after getting home from the vet he showed up with his backhoe on a trailer. Unloaded and asked where I needed the grave dug. I had never asked him to do that. That is community. And I thank God everyday that I now live in a community like this.

 

[Ky hills]

@Dave that does sound like a good community to be a part of. It used to be a lot that way here too. Now a days a lot of the old timers that were good that way have passed or not able to anymore. Then with a lot of land being developed there are a lot of people that just live in the country and don't really have a sense of or need for that working together on projects. Through our church we do have folks that are cattle farmers or have grown up farming and like you said will offer to help and we know that we can call on them and they can call on us. Last fall a neighbors cow got out on a busy state road across from our farm. My wife and I went and found it and then got some of our gates that we use to load out cattle and cobbled up a temporary fence out of those and what was left of their fence after a car ran through it. It held her in till he got home from work. A while before that, our work truck wouldn't start and my wife was caught about a mile from our house after I had left out with a tractor. An adult child of those neighbors saw her walking away from the truck towards the road and gave her a ride to our house.

 

[JParrott]

I'm not big on community anymore. I like to know most of my neighbors names and help them out of a jam but the rest of the time I like to keep everyone at a distance. Even the ones that I do know - we live the same way as far as the farm life goes - but we don't think the same. I'll admit that there's likely some selfishness to it. I'm way too absorbed in what has to get done, what I need to get done, and what I want to get done to worry about socializing much. My priorities are probably a little backwards at this stage in life.

Also, when I was a kid there were just a handful of people around and community was easy to be a part of because we were all alike. Fast forward three decades and people have crept in that are different. I don't like them. They don't do anything to better themselves or their places. I can't abide them.

If I ever win the lottery that I don't play I'll spend every dime of it if I have to buying all of them out and cleaning the area up.

 

[herofan]

I'm not big on community anymore. I like to know most of my neighbors names and help them out of a jam but the rest of the time I like to keep everyone at a distance. Even the ones that I do know - we live the same way as far as the farm life goes - but we don't think the same. I'll admit that there's likely some selfishness to it. I'm way too absorbed in what has to get done, what I need to get done, and what I want to get done to worry about socializing much. My priorities are probably a little backwards at this stage in life.

Also, when I was a kid there were just a handful of people around and community was easy to be a part of because we were all alike. Fast forward three decades and people have crept in that are different. I don't like them. They don't do anything to better themselves or their places. I can't abide them.

If I ever win the lottery that I don't play I'll spend every dime of it if I have to buying all of them out and cleaning the area up.

That describes me as well. I know it sounds bad to sound like I don't like socializing, but you described my situation as well.

My dad said when he was growing up, everybody knew everybody, and they had been here for generations. Today, I have 6 families living on my road where my house was one. The thing is, I get along with them and would help in an emergency, but they have moved in from other places and are strange to me. I just don't connect.

Of course, everyone who moves in did great things where they were from. They were in the oil business, rodeo, athletes, police training, you name it. Here, however, they live in a shack and have some strange behaviors. They have cows tied to poles with a pen the size of a bedroom that they get in sometimes. They can tack up a little shed and it becomes an awesome greenhouse.

I really don't want these people pulling up and sharing work, but it really doesn't bother me. I enjoy doing my own thing.

 

[JParrott]

Around here it's going to get worse unless something drastic happens. A few old timers with fairly large acreages and kids that don't want the places are going to be coming to the end here in the next 10-20 years. I've got a fear of what will happen because I can't afford to buy them whole and I know 99% of everyone else around here can't either. The local folks that can afford to buy a whole farm don't want to and many of the outsiders are as bad as the local "developers" that buy the places up and sell them off in chunks to the same low ambition type we already have too much of.

Had one good neighbor come in the last five years from Texas but they had money to buy outright. Good folks and fit right in. Would welcome more of those but I fear that won't be the case. I wish things were cheaper for the people who want to live this kind of lifestyle but can't afford to get started.

 

[Ky hills]

When my parents built a house out here when I was a small child, there wasn't hardly any houses in sight. Now there are several quite close. Most of the folks we have met seem like nice folks. Over the years a few have been arses, and some of them were locals and some not.
Here it's kind of like you have two totally separate mindsets, an urban and a rural, and the urbanites have spread into the rural areas in large numbers making for a lot of traffic and dangerous situations when on the road with tractors and equipment. Our town has lost a lot of its agricultural businesses. and seems like most of the town wants to shed its once proud farming community image. I've lived here all my life to this point and things have sure changed. Still some really nice people around, but at the same time a lot of folks that live completely different lifestyles and attitudes. My wife is originally from southeast OK, and she often comments on how rude and out right hateful some people act across the board from all backgrounds.