Simple Life.....Reversed

I'll never admit to watching the Paris Hilton TV show, but I do know what the premise was...two rich, spoiled girls get dropped in Podunk USA and America watches their antics as they try to adapt to farm life. I don't live on a farm, I can see farms from my house, and evidentially that isn't an everyday occurrence to my cousin, Dawn, and husband, Andy who live in New Jersey.

Ronda and I saw Dawn and Andy, along with my other cousins Jennifer and Tina, on our way home from Montana last month. Admittedly, we were pretty haggard. We had been driving for 7 hours through construction and 90+ degree heat in a little car with 3 kids. Dawn was home for her class reunion in Spokane and it was great timing to be able to see my cousins and their families.

During our dinner conversation we talked about our jobs, growing up on a farm (Ronda), rafting with the kids (we had just gotten off the Grande Ronde), and it probably was mentioned that we have to drive 70 miles to the nearest Target. Andy, who is a sports show producer, said in casual conversation that he thinks a great plot for a show would be to plunk Ronda and I down in the middle of New York City with $5000 and see what kind of trouble we can get into. He thought it would amaze the rest of the world to see how normal people live. We all laughed, it was pretty funny, and left it at that. Well, I have to admit, that conversation has dominated many of my pew scraping thoughts over the last few weeks.

First of all, when did I become such a country bumpkin that it would be considered comedy to see me in New York? Maybe I always have been. I have lived in a big city, but just for one year, in a dorm, without a car, and I hated it. I think driving through Spokane is major traffic. I even own a pair of cowboy boots! (just for show, they have never been on a horse).

Maybe it was the conversation about rattlesnakes that got Andy. Or talking about Ronda growing up milking cows and moving irrigation pipes in her dress. Maybe it was the fact that we had a bottle of left-over margarita's in the trunk, just in case. Or maybe it was just the plain fact that we are simple people, like simple stuff, like a simple life.

It's fun to think about the possibilities of what we could do in New York. I know that we'd see a show and stand dumbfounded staring at all the people. I honestly don't know...it's like asking for help on the computer...how do you know what to ask for if you don't know what you don't know :o) Thanks for the great, short, visit in Spokane, it has given us food for thought as we make our way across the farm country.