Flee the City
More and more often these days, I feel a
gathering urge to flee into the country. Though it
is a fantasy, the provocative idea of packing all
my belongings, heading up into the hills and moving
into a mountain cabin in the middle of nowhere has
a strong attraction in our modern times.
Destructive politics, a sleepwalking economy and
the ever-present prospect of terrorism all
contribute to my social malaise, but the feeling
wells up from more personal depths as well.
Encountering obnoxious and often enraged drivers on
the freeway virtually every day sours my feelings
toward my fellow humans. Dealing with irate
customers in my supplementary customer service job
probably instills at least a few more ounces of
xenophobia. Earning a buck in a city with a
ridiculously overinflated cost of living can be
discouraging.
I'm probably also influenced by a couple of
friends who have made the leap. They both have
burgeoning home-based businesses, which enabled
them to escape the rat race and make a living from
deep within Los Padres National Forest. They bought
good-sized houses amongst pine trees for far less
than one would probably pay for a one-bedroom condo
in one of San Diego's scarier neighborhoods. And so
far, they're loving it.
Truth be told, I guess I've just had a bad day.
We all have such days, and probably many of you
daydream about escaping
it all just like I do. Though the pace of life in
our modern society has certainly sped up, such
escapism is not new. Henry David Thoreau wrote
about it, John Muir lived itand Mark Twain
did both. Right now, reality keeps me here, slave
to my wage. But perhaps one day in the not so
distant future I'll break the shackles, heed the
call and flee the city for good.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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