Our Town, America

Selah has been interested in how America was first established, so we've done some reading this morning and last week too about the early explorers and settlers of the United States. We've read some fiction from the American Girl Kirsten books, we've read in a heritage book learning about the early colonies, the Separatists (ie. Pilgrims), what the first settlements looked like, how they interacted and learned from the Indians, etc.

So today we were talking about how you can tell what your towns people like and are interested in by the things you see in your town. Duh. But I've never sat back and thought about it. Selah said, "Owasso has lots of restaurants, houses, churches, and banks." So yep. We pretty much value our families, like to eat, lots of Jesus fans, and places to keep our money. Ha! Then I started thinking about it. This is a "bedroom" community of Tulsa. There are many more houses than businesses or places to work. This town is highly centered around the kids, especially when it comes to sports and extra curricular activities (hence the need for all the place to eat ~ we are an "on-the-go" community with all the activities the kids enjoy after school). We do live in a highly churched community. Even within the public school system, Jesus is not a foreign word, and many many of the teachers and administration are Christians, allowing some of that to creep into the kids' lives, even while at school (hence, a town that is filled with mostly honest, good, people-loving, Godly men and women, and this results in not a lot of crime or danger).

It's really neat to sit back and think about the make-up of our country. Think about the towns that are more urban... lots of parks and gardens, running tracks, museums, culture, etc. Or the towns that are extremely business and higher education oriented, such as Chicago or Boston ~ you may not see as many kids, cars, soccer fields, etc. And what about the people down south? There is a lot of value in nature, people, agriculture, sweet tea and front porch sittin'. So you won't see as much "fashion" perhaps as you would in New York. Start paying attention to various towns. All over America there are "different people" in a sense, with very different interests and abilities. You can tell a lot about the people by merely observing the things that the town has in it. Kind-a cool, huh. I love 1st grade! I'm learning so much! lol!!! Yep, Owasso is good enough for me. As long as I can get away for some "enlightening" at least a couple times a year.