Living in a rural area requires that residents throughout the county learn to adapt. Newcomers often have no idea what adjustments will have to be made in order to keep their family members happy. All too often when someone visits Meeker in the spring or summer, they go back and report that the area is a perfect fit for the whole family, only to learn later that their spouse or children find it too geographically isolated. Pile on the extreme weather conditions including blizzards or severe drought and one can be sure that family complaints will escalate rapidly.
Changes in their weekly schedules or routines are often much more complicated than the slight logistical changes they expected. Often family members are not aware of what will be required of othem, which results in some family members questioning the original decision. Although the technological changes have allowed a massive shift from working in an office to home and made it so much easier, it can still require everyone else in the family to do more than simply alter their daily schedules. The wide variety of possibilities of working from home are causing so many more people to work from home.
The depth of one’s roots no longer determines the final decision. The refrain from a popular 1960s golden-oldie, “should I stay or should I go,” comes to mind. In some areas of the state, relocation to the rural west from the city ensures an economic boost that requires residents may have to change their previous understanding of what “neighboring” means. A steady stream of new faces are in town, but only a glimpse of them is possible as you go past their windows. Text them first and identify yourselves. No longer will a newcomer to Meeker see an old timer here with a hand printed sign on the front of his coat, “Please identify yourself. I don’t see so good.”
Signing up to receive all the latest updates from your “neighbors” on a computer app called NextDoor is taking the concept of being a good neighbor to a whole new level. As Mr. Rogers used to ask his television viewers, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”
By DOLLY VISCARDI – Special to the Herald Times
