Love & hate

Living in the boonies is a love/hate kind of thing. There are reasons why I love it and reasons why I hate it - here's some of those reasons

LOVE:
Being out of the chaos that is "city" life
That my postmaster knows me by name and remembers that I'm expecting certain things
The water - straight from the tap is better than municipal water x100
The air - clean, oh so clean
It's dark at night, not that pretend dark, but really dark
We "miss out" on all the silliness that goes on in larger towns (drive by shootings, carjackings, muggings etc)
I don't worry about my son playing outside unattended, even though we don't have a fenced yard
I could leave my car and house unlocked.... could, but don't. Some habits die hard
There are stray cows
Things move more slowly here
Everyone knows who you are & everyone is friendly

HATE:
Everyone knows who you are - tough to retain any sense of privacy in a town of 300 people
If I run out of something, it's at least a half hour drive to the nearest store that carries it at a reasonable price
Milk at the local store is $6 a gallon, Ice Cream is $6.50 for a half gallon
In order to NOT have to shop every week (and thus conserve fuel) I have to shop in MASSIVE quantities
Grocery shopping is an all day event
There is nothing "to do" in my tiny little town: no museums, no galleries, no theater etc
The lack of reliable high speed internet at a reasonable price ($60/month for 500 kb is NOT reasonable)
IF LD were to go to public school it's a 13 mile drive, one way
Lack of amenities & services
Lack of medical services within 5 miles
There are stray cows