An Invitation to Safe Living From Daggett, MI
That was what I thought before I lived here for more than twenty years. Having enjoyed these years in a place where we have everythung minus the stress, traffic, crime, terrorism threats and the annoyances of fast paced living, I extend an invitation to you to drop by our town, instead of that planned vacation to some other exotic part of the world. After all, why leave the USA only for a brief change of scenery? Save your money. Be pragmatic and still, enjoy. Or better still, relocate, and start the beginning of your anxiety free life.
Daggett is the place where you still can see wildlife, so forget that African safari and save your skin from mosquito bites. You will not see lions or tigers romping around anywhere near youu here but you can meet friendly deers on the deers, even bears if you go deeper into the woods. If you are lucky enough to visit during the “hunting season”, you could enjoy the comeraderie of fellow-hunters who visit the town every year.
If you want to see nature, you only have to look. The lakes in my town are pristine. You can go fishing and swimming particularly during the Spring and Summer without having to think of tsunamis, natural disasters or having to ran away fast from every kind of criminal.
Added plus is safe nightlife you can enjoy! We have one great old-fashioned bar with a modern 4- lane bowling alley that is open even during the winter months. There used to be two, but remember we only have a populatio of 300. That means everyone knows everyone so the town is like one big family.
Real Estate prices here are one of the lowest in the USA. I live in a modest but cozy three bedroom home battered a bit by time but my bathroom is great and we never run out of water nor do we need to purchase bottled water, because the water system comes from natural spring water. Our electricity is as great as that of any “big” city which means that I use the heater during winter, I have cable television, I have good working phone service (add that to my mobile phone service). I even have the latest dvds!
Perhaps, what we frankly need is a 7/11 or an all night convenience store though. But one has only to own a car – or be friendky to the nighbor, to find a way out to get a midnight snack. After all if you would like to get some snack or see a movie you can drive to Menominee which is about 25 miles fron my home. Or if you want to enjoy a rather lazy night, you can sit outside your yard and look up at those sparkling stars while being serenaded by birds chirping, owls hooting, and cows in the neighboring pastures mooing about a mile away while the coyotes howl from a safe distance. Indeed, live and free entertainment!
Or you can familirize yourself with the town by dropping by Roy’s Grocery Store which has been a “long-time landmark” of this place. What would our town do without Roy’s?The store has everything we need and if we do need something that’s “extraordinary” or “unavailable” you simply tell Roy and a couple of days later he will have it for you. There is no service more personalized than that! And though the nearest movie theater is three miles away and has shows only on Friday and Saturday there are “hot items” at Roy’s such as the movie rentals both on VHS and DVD.
Roy’s is more than a grocery store, it is a “meeting place” because I prefer not to call it a “gossip place”/. People go in there daily to buy their groceries or the daily paper and also to catch up on the latest “town news” either with another customer or with the cashier.
“Did you hear about the garage fire at Jean’s house?” or “Brandon was in an accident last night and rushed to the hospital”. “There was a fight outside the bar last night”. And real love stories like “Did you know that Roger is dating Irene?” (Names and all fabricated) Then of course as the next person tells the story there are a few more details added and it becomes more “exciting”.Then the latest “news” one gets from eavesdropping police scanners , listening to police calls and the rescue squad reports and there is plenty to talk about. Even I am guilty of owning a police scanner. It sits in my living room so at any time when I am home I know what is happening in my county. That’s even better than reality TV and even I have ideas of podcasting all the excitement!
Also assured is “safe-living”. We have both a Sheriff’s Department and the State Police. This is a county with a lot of territory for these few officers to cover but when there is an emergency they have an amazingly fast response time. You do not hear sirens often thus, when there we hear s siren, everyone is alert wondering where the emergency vehicles are headed and what the emergency is. That is another reason , why I have my scanner so I will know what is happening even before I hear the siren.
Then, if you get weary of all the village gossips, you can go see a concert, other than the high school band concert.There are such places to watch like Disney on Ice or Broadway shows – but then you will have to drive 90 miles to Greenbay with no traffict! The closest mall here though is also 25 miles away, so most people who want to go to a lot of malls, drive to Greenbay.
That is relatively easy though because there is no traffic here.A case in pint is that during the last three hours I have heard only two cars pass my house. But I conveniently live a quarter mile away from Highway 41 and I can hear occasional traffic there. Some days I will travel the three miles to work and will have seen only five vehicles. Those who live here usually travel twenty-five miles to Menominee or even ninety miles to Green Bay cruising through a straight highway driving with no traffic. You get to approximately 30 minutes and in Green Bay in 90 minutes,which is why we do not miss anything new in the planet.
There are also civil and old-fashioned lessons to be learned living in this small town. Everyone is related to each other in “some way”.If you are visiting or relocating here, remember that being the “outsider” ,they probably all l know who you are sooner than your visit or transfer. You also have to be friendly and never talk about another person because you are probably speaking to a relative, aunt, brother, or neighbor of that other person. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to assimilate and know later that you don’t really miss anything from “that big city” because you have everything you need.
Living in a small town is a security also means you are safe walking outside in the middle of the night, you just need to watch out for the skunks that might spray you. Most of us do not even lock our doors. We know the neighbors will watch out for our homes in our absence and they do. No one steals our mail. There are no stalkers, drug dealers prying on our kids, but we do have curious neighbors that will watch everyone that comes and goes from your house and they believe it is their business to know your business.
Ah yes, life in a small town��how much better can it get? J
