Living in the "sticks"
By Mel Lane
24 Jun 2009
What city do you live in? What neighborhood?
The question is: "What city do you live in? What neighborhood?" The answer is no to both. We live so far out that you can't not get there from where you are. A person must go somewhere else first, to get to where we live. And, that's the way we like it. It's a very rural part of Brown County Indiana. No city and no neighborhoods, just deer, turkey and lots of other animals. Again, just the way we like it.
What are some adjectives that describe your neighborhood?
Trees, ponds and lakes, tourists, camping, log cabins, self-reliant, gravel, "real" neighbors that stop to talk and offer help when asked.
How long have you lived there, and what brought you there?
We have been in our house for six months. We built a log cabin on some acerage among the hills, ravines and trees. My wife is the one who brought us to this place. She has had a dream of living on the water in a log cabin since she was 9 years old. Our horse and chickens are in the barn just through the trees a little and she can watch him run around. Quite brought us here. I've never lived in a city proper and never want to. Folks will pass a person with car trouble in a city without stopping. Here, you won't wait long before folks have stopped to help.
What is your favorite thing about this place? Your least favorite?
Favorite: Space, it truely is the finial fronteer. There is no more if it being made, and it's becoming harder to find every year. We have ours and it provides for us the freedom to be self-reliant. Dead-fall from trees provide wood for heat. We also used trees from the site as part of the building material for the house. That coupled with a generator for back-up power makes for a safe place in Winter.
Least Favorite: It's 23 miles to a city with major shopping. That's not a real big deal, but I felt obligated to put something down as least favorite in order to be fair. It simply takes planning. If you're going out, ask yourself, "what do we need" and make one trip of it.
Do you feel that you belong there?
In fact YES, we do. We're blessed beyound messure. We like doing things ourselves. We hand built the house and barn. Nothing makes it more personal than doing the work youself.
What is the most common misconception about where you live?
The county's center is occupied by Nashville. A town like no other. Every shop downtown is filled, every corner has something going and it's all fun small town stuff. Country cuteness is everywhere. That type of atmosphere is what made Nashville popular with the tourist. Motorcycles from Indiana and tons from out-of-state flood Nashville every weekend from Spring though Fall. The misconception is that those people who visit here, think that the place exists only for them and real people don't live here all year long. That thought tends to make some visiters rude. As if the sound of your ride is the most important thing and everybody should be hearing it as you travel through town.
What is a special fact about your city that you have to live there to know?
The town of Helmsburg, which is part and parcel of Brown County, (population: 30 or so) has not less than three companies that do country wide business. A saw mill, a metal fabrication company and a sock manufacturer, all ship their products nation wide.
What aspect of your city do you secretly love?
I have no secrets, I like it all.
