One of the main reasons I was excited to stop traveling was to have the opportunity to find some community where we lived. When I was younger community didn’t matter so much to me. It was all about raising kids, working, and going to school but once we went on the road this was a major focus for me. Surprisingly we found a close-knit community while we traveled on the road despite our geographical differences but as the years went on and more people left the lifestyle this circle shrank. While we were in Los Angeles for two years, I really felt the lack of community and learned during that time just because I wanted a sense of community that didn’t mean the community wanted me 🙂
While we were looking for a house this was a major consideration and for me at least in the top three considerations of where we should buy. Then we moved into the house and frankly the transition was all pretty overwhelming, so I dug in and didn’t do much with getting involved but the desire was still there.
Finally, as things calmed down, I decided to stick my head out of my burrow and went to a fundraiser for the local library. I came so close to chickening out, I really did but I am so glad I went because that one experience led to so many great things. At the fundraiser (where we learned a craft) I met a wonderful Mother and Daughter (Sue and Sara) and the leader of the local Friends of the Library group Casey. They took me under their wing and started introducing me to some people.
To be clear I didn’t jump in with both feet, but rather eased into the local pool partly because of my own nervousness and partly because it is a very small community and I was fully aware that if I screwed things up I couldn’t just roll down the road. I started with a local book club (based on my Mom’s recommendation) and this opened me up to a whole new group of people. Then I went to visit a local church and finally I worked a local Friends of the Library fundraiser. The theme was a teaparty which really isnt my thing but I was happy to help.
Simultaneously I started donating extra eggs and other food at the local food bank and joined an Everyday Kindness Facebook group which allowed me to donate stuff to people in the local community in need. I tried to make sure all of my interactions with people was very positive and, in some cases, bit my tongue to keep my opinions to myself. Small towns are small towns and it was clear that most people knew about the new people in town and were super curious about what our story was. It helped that I grew up 20 minutes from here and when people learned we moved back to town to be closer to family that seemed to quiet suspicions.
People were suspicious and I kind of get it. These small rural towns are hanging on, but outsiders are coming in and buying land that folks would rather go to locals. The sense of community can also get lost as young people move away although I have met multiple young couples who have moved back in order to raise their families. Actually, that seems to be the population at least that I have seen. Couples with young children and older retired folks. Since I am turning 60 this year, I definitely fit in the older group but its hard finding things to talk about when you don’t have RVing as a common interest. For the last 11 years conversation has been easy because there was always something to talk about but now, I’ll be honest it’s a bit of a struggle.
Especially because people are all dancing around the politics and rural Ohio politics tend to skew conservative. Personally, I try to stay away from the topic, but it comes up a lot. I will say that I am super glad that I don’t have to worry anymore about mail in voting. Honestly, I would rather focus on helping others in the community at a local level and every time I get a chance to do that I feel great.
One last thing I am actually changing jobs and going to work for a company on the north end of town. Its a hybrid position but based locally and it will be really nice to meet people that way as well. I have always been better at having work as a common denominator in relationships and even though its an hour north of me hopefully I can make some friends that I can hang out with there.
So slow but steady wins the race as they say. People different than me could certainly jump in with both feet and it would probably be ok, but I would rather take my time. I feel more and more like I belong here though and that is a nice feeling. Oh and a couple more things. We bought two more chickens so now we have six (lost one of the originals to a fox) and the spring bulbs are blooming. It’s great to see the ones I planted in the fall coming up but even better to learn what the people before us had planted. What a lovely surprise. I had forgotten how volatile the weather was in Ohio in the Spring but we are getting used to it again!
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Camper Chronicles 