CITY LIVING REALLY GOT YOU DOWN

City living gets everyone down eventually.

Then we get back up and keep going.

And it doesn’t have to be a big city.

Someone from Coquille might call someone from North Bend a ‘city boy’, which is probably better than pretty boy.

And it rolls on from there.

As a history pro I’ve read that the only reason anyone lived in town was because they were bad farmers.

There’s something to that.

Towns were there to supply farmers what they needed, or for shipping farm products out.

The wheat harvest doesn’t go to town on its own. Neither does timber.

The necessities of life came in on a wagon, a ship, or a train.

In the wagon days the rig that got you across the Oregon Trail was reused.

More than one baby cradle came from wagon wood.

City living comes with a time and place if you can imagine the perfect city.

The top image is Portland, Oregon in 1898.

It looks busy, doesn’t it?

See the houses on the hills in the background?

Downtown city property grew too valuable for just houses so the money folks sold and moved on up to the West Hills.

Things took off soon after.

Bigger City Living

The big jumps came between 1900 and 1910, then 1980 to 1990.

The last decade was my downtown decade.

I wasn’t a farmer.

Today’s City Supply Chain Logistics

Shipping and trucking do a big job, but out near the airport the heavy lifters come in.

We want things over-nighted?

Yes, we do.

Stuff gets flown in from manufacturing centers and distribution centers then get broken down for delivery in the white-roofed buildings.

Looks normal?

We can’t all be self-sufficient farmers with disdain for city living, but you’ve got to give them their due.

Those are the people who would better fit in with any time and place throughout civilized time.

No? Okay, a software engineer would fit in too, if they knew how to farm.

Today, that same engineer keeps the planes on schedule for your orders.

When you get a chance, tip your hat to the farmers and the people who help get their goods to market.

Now I’m hungry for some honky tonk blues.

Well, I stopped into every place in town
This city life has really got me down
I got the honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Well, lord I got ’em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues

I’m gonna tuck my worries underneath my arm
And scat right back to my pappy’s farm
And leave these honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Good lord, I got ’em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues