Country Roads ...

I grew up in a large suburb, close enough to Chicago that you could be downtown in a half hour, or at the southwestern city limits in 5-10 minutes.  Shopping malls, traffic, construction, hustle and bustle were my environment.

Since having children, we have also lived in the suburbs.  But a much different kind of suburb.  The suburbs of southeastern Wisconsin and the "big cities" of central Illinois.  Instead of finding yourself in the city after a 10 minute drive, we find ourselves in "the country".  Right now, a 10 minute drive in any direction from our house will bring you to places that look like this:

Open roads with corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see.  Landscapes interrupted only by sites like barns, farm equipment, and silos.

The kind of sites that I only saw as a child when we would hop on the highway and head out of town on vacation.

I often think about the kind of "normal" that my kids are experiencing as they grow up.  The sight of cows, sheep or horses on the roadside that would cause my brother and I to sit up in the backseat and take notice barely cause them to blink an eye.  The windmill farms of central Illinois are becoming a regular sight to them, instead of the incredible sight that they are to me.

What they find awesome is catching a glimpse of the Chicago skyline as we head up the Kennedy, or Great America as we pass by on 94.  They're mystified about the concept of standing still on the highway while you wait for construction traffic to merge, and don't understand why there are so many more cars on the road and people walking on the streets of Chicago.

My kids are experiencing a different kind of normal than I did growing up.  And I'm torn between the two worlds:  sometimes yearning to be back among the hustle and bustle of Chicago and the suburbs, often grateful to have escaped to a more peaceful, laid-back existence.