I'm a convert to rural. When KYHillChick met me, I was wearing 3 piece suits and driving a Buick Regal. In fairly short order, I'd traded the Regal for a pickup truck, acquired a collection of quilted shirts and drove the roads with a dog hanging out every window.
What I can tell you is that mental health problems run rampant in poor rural areas. The government's answer to it is to hand out anti-depressants along with the welfare checks. The other thing I noticed hanging out where 'HillChick grew up was that very few who tried to leave her county ever stayed gone. She was one of the few. Most either never left or left and came back.
Living in a big city takes a certain type. My Grandpa Whitey was the first and only of his clan to make it off the farm. My Dad had 10 years of life on the farm growing up and never went back to it after the Army. If you'd ask them, they'd say I was nuts for moving to a farm, but I've got a bunch of reasons. Just being able to pi$$ off the front porch with nobody complaining is reason enough for me.
The permanent move is now on, now that Mom just passed. She was the only thing keeping me in town. Truth is, if I stay out at the farm alone too long I get a bit squirrely, but its the loneliness and confinement of being stuck in a hunting cabin with no one to talk to. If I have folks around me, I'm fine. A trip into town to shop groceries usually gets me back to normal.
