When you move to the country the first question-visiting city friends ask is “What do you do?” To their uninitiated eyes your new home has trees, small animals, sky with the sun in the morning and the moon at night. Not much else. Their vision of your typical day is: get up, drink coffee, feed wild birds, eat lunch, watch grass grow, eat dinner, go to bed.
Those of us who live in the country have to smile. In our former citified lives we mostly worked at jobs that took the greater part of five days. On weekends we maybe ate in restaurants and enjoyed cultural opportunities or stayed in our pajamas noodling around on our TV’s, computers or cell phones. Occasionally we would visit other city dwellers for dinner parties or festive outings. Truth be told, when not at work we spent the largest part of our time wandering around alone. It is easy to work with people during the working years but harder to really know them.
When you move to the country everything changes. In the case of Anderson Valley, suddenly you are one in around 3.000 instead of one in 300,000.
If you choose to be a joiner there are so many things you can join. At each one of these organizations and their get-togehters you will meet any number of people who will be interested to get to know you, a newbie. You instantly become a P.L.U. (People Like Us). After awhile on your daily rounds you will find that more and more people greet you by name. A small town is a little like the old TV show “Cheers” where “Everybody knows your name.” When people who come to visit you or walk through town at your side they marvel at your connectedness as you are stopped for a word here and a word there by people you know or recognize.
A natural outgrowth of acquaintances with many people is the chance to participate in the multitude of activities on offer. When you are thrown upon your own resources for entertainment in a small town creativity is called for. This is where the smile comes in. What do we do? The answer is a lot more than we used to do in our city lives.
First in the line-up are the clubs, groups of people with common interests coming together to serve the community and at the same time socializing. The Lion’s Club raises money that they immediately plow back into the community in response to various requests from community-serving petitioners. Need new football helmets? Swimming Safety lessons for kids?, Senior Center support? No community-benefitting reasonable requests are denied by the Lions Club. For those who served their country in the armed forces there is the American Legion. To get to know a really vital group of people who put their service where their mouth is joining the Ambulance Crew or the Volunteer Fire Department is a great option, no doubt about it. Just ask anyone involved.
The Unity Club is an old-fashioned women’s organization that does a multitude of good works crowned each year by both their Wildflower Show and the big Christmas Bazaar. They also run our wonderful local community library. The Independent Career Women (ICW) gather monthly to dine and drink wine while sponsoring high school scholarships. This is a chance for women to relax, visit, and make new friends.
All of these organizations welcome all comers; there is no secret handshake. The Grange makes their hall available for all sorts of gatherings including the yearly Seed and Scion Exchange and the Annual Variety Show (which is coming right up, by the way — don’t miss it). The all-volunteer Food Bank provides food to anyone in need and also operates out of the Grange Hall. The Fairgrounds is another great venue for gatherings. In fact, the most outstanding and widely attended event of the year the Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show. The Senior Center provides lunches, classes, referrals and socializing for not only seniors but also many others. The Senior Center building, which is run by the American Legion, is also available for local events. The Foodshed group is another organization that shares resources, information and friendships involving food, gardens, events and more. The AV History Museum and its Historical Society is a great stop when you are entertaining visitors or if you just want to delve into the Valley past. Their programs are always interesting; a veteran of the popular Antique Road Show is scheduled to appear soon allowing locals to bring their treasures in for valuation and identification.
There are also lots of less formal groups that meet regularly. They play Mah Jong and Bunco, fix antique machinery, read books and discuss them, do creative writing together, ride horseback, produce art, sew, study military history, exercise, do Yoga, dance, sing. Something for everyone.
So for anyone wondering, “What do you do?,” consult this list. The only limit on activities you can participate in is the amount of time you’re willing to spend. If you wanted to you could literally be busy all the time. If I moved back to the city now I fear I would feel very lonely. Yes, I could eat a lot of great food. I could revel in wonderful art and fabulous music. But, when I walked to the post office would three or four different people “tip their hats” to me? I think I’m happiest as a sort-of big fish in this very tiny pond. Really, almost just a puddle.
Yup, can relate. Guess i’m one-upping (one-downing?) but living where i live in Southern Humboldt, about 1/10 of that population in the whole Valley… everybody’s up in your business, but then, you know a lot of theirs. It feels good that the truck slowing down on the road when you are pulled over is most likely someone you know. I think this is the way humans are wired to live– in communities not of ideals but of people, and few of them.