We had a family outing yesterday, all buttoned up in the car, to the edge of Knoxville.
Even the edge of the "big" city was daunting. Guess I've become a hick from the sticks.
Mind you, I've always been a hick from the 'burbs when it comes to actual big cities; I find crowds, densely-packed tall concrete buildings, and urban density in general to be disorienting and intimidating. Sensory overload, can't see the horizon, lack of cues for big-picture spatial orientation... nopity nope nope.
But the area we ventured into? A year ago, that was normal-type territory for me, though unfamiliar in detail. And it's not like Knoxville is even a real big city.
Afterthought: Looking out my office window? Greater metropolitan downtown Boyds Creek is looking a lot more crowded than it did a year ago. Yes, there has been some construction... well, quite a lot, but not much of it visible from here. Mostly, my perceptions have changed. To think that, back in Sunnyvale, the nearest neighbor's house was 15 feet from my office window, not 400 feet.
How ya gonna put 'em back in Paree, after they've seen the farm? (OK, so farming for a living would be a bunch of Not Fun. Living in the countryside and farming for a hobby beats living amid the crowds. I suspect a lot of the recent telecommuters will choose to remain as tele as they can manage, once the current excuse goes away. And maybe they'll develop rural attitudes. Does Bill the Gates really think people will flock to his MS® SmartCities™?)
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