Nature of the Beast

Some of you know that I live in a small, rural community. This is a great thing for the most part with the obvious drawback being that we don't have a lot in the way of choices for shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

True, we live only 40 minutes from Minneapolis and anything you could imagine you might want to do can be done there, but you don't always feel like driving 40 minutes and if you plan on including a few drinks in your plans, driving 40 minutes home is not a smart thing to do, so you don't do it as often as you would like. Not to mention when you are paying $3.00/gallon gas, you really have to want to do something special to make the trip worth it.

So, that leaves you with the limited options our area provides. Now, don't get me wrong, we have a great group of friends, most of them born and raised in this area, but I'm finding myself bored with our social gatherings.

These gatherings mostly consist of bonfires, Leinenkugels beer, bratwurst and country music. We really change it up when it rains, then we scrap the bonfire and stand inside a pole barn of some sort but keep the rest of the list above. This may sound snobbish, but I'm really tired of this. I certainly don't think I'm above this form of entertainment, but couldn't we head to the city and do something different now and then? I like to drink beer as much as the next girl, but c'mon, let's shake it up a bit, huh?

The problem arises when my husband is perfectly happy with this form of entertainment and sees no reason to mess with the status quo. Don't get me wrong, he likes going to the city too, but feels no need to do this very often.

Lately, I've been opting out of the 'country fests' and choosing instead to stay home and enjoy my time alone in my quiet house - which isn't quiet very often. Of course, this is met with a lot of curiosity by all our friends. I'm constantly being peppered with: "Why aren't you coming too?" "What are you going to do all night?" "C'mon, come drink with us!", etc., etc. This is difficult, because you don't want to offend your friends and act like you think you are too good for them, so how do you politely say "you just don't feel like having a Leinie's hangover one more time this summer/fall/winter?"

These are the times when I feel stifled by the country life and would like to trade in my 10 acres for an apartment in downtown St. Paul........maybe in my next life?