A Country Boy At Heart ...

The weather has been so darn cold the past couple of days cos it's been raining non-stop almost everyday and I was pretty much happy with that. You see, I love the cold weather. I live in a country that has basically one season all year round which is hot, hot and more hot. So I relish days when it rains and the weather becomes nice and cool.

But on Saturday, I don't know about the rest of you guys in Malaysia, the weather in my side of the world was so darn cold that I was practically shivering while having my dinner. And I wasn't shivering from hunger mind you. In fact I wasn't the only one. Even wifey, who is used to cold weather, was feeling the chills and was covered up in a blanket just sitting in the hall and watching TV. Normally we'd both be complaining how hot it is.

The temperature on Saturday was seriously the coldest it has ever been that I thought it would snow the next morning, so you can imagine my disappointment when I woke up and there was no sheet of white snow on the ground ... LOL! Well, one can dream can't one?

Anyway, this post isn't about the cold weather on Saturday. This post is in a way related to Nessa's post titled Potty Talk. She wrote something about how in her childhood she didn't really have a proper toilet and all they had was this outhouse on stilts a little distance away from her house. And how old newspapers and even coconut husks were used as devices to clean up after doing your business ... ouch, those coconut husks must have hurt ... hehehe ...

I cannot imagine having to walk out of my house quite a distance away to just use the toilet. You can say I was brought up as a spoilt city brat who had everything, well almost everything, I didn't get that helicopter I wanted for my 9th birthday ... LOL! But yeah, I'm a city boy through and through. I was born in the city, I grew up in the city and I don't think I could stay anywhere else but in the city.

Even though I grew up in the late 60's, very late 60's for your information, I'm not that old ok, the place I lived in had modern amenities. Well, modern for that time period anyway. And I cannot and won't even pretend to imagine the life Nessa went through in her childhood. But I must say that her life probably had a whole lot more character than mine did!

Even though I've been a city boy all my life, I've always envisioned living in a little house on the prairie kinda place, with lush greenery, fruit trees all around, rolling hills surrounded by streams and creeks. Clear night skies with millions of twinkling stars and the sounds of crickets accompanying me to sleep with the occasional sounds of the howling old owl in the woods hunting horny black toads (ok, ok, I kinda stole that line from Elton John, so sue me ... LOL!).

Anyways, you get the picture, right? That's the kind of life I would have loved to lead. I'm not saying that city life is bad, urrmmm, well maybe a little but it just cannot compare to the simple life of country living. It builds character. And that is what's missing in most of us city boys. We hardly have any character at all. I mean if you consider climbing over concrete walls and playing in the drains of the city as having more character than wading barefooted in a stream or scaling up the trunk of an old oak tree, then you've seriously got to get your head checked.

Whenever I hear or read stories about people reminiscing their younger days back in their old village, I'll always be very attentive and soak up as much of their experience as I can. I tend to try and imagine inside my head what it would feel like to run around the huge expanse of land, take a dive in a freezing stream, sit by a lake and do some fishing, snooze under a nice shady tree, fly a kite even ... and be able to do this everyday cos this huge 'play ground' would be just outside your door.

Growing up in the city, my huge playground was this small expanse of a garden, hardly big enough to run around in let alone fly a kite! Let's not even talk about finding a lake or a stream for me to dive in. In fact, I can't swim for that matter *blush* and let's not even start about how I don't even know how to fish! See just how much 'character' I have! Well, at least I can climb trees ... hehehe ...

Now, all you city born people, please don't start screaming bloody murder at me for bringing you guys down a peg or two. Yes, while there were indeed fun things to do in the city, playing in those monsoon drains were indeed fun and scary, scaling those concrete walls in the front yard was indeed interesting and climbing that mango or rambutan tree was an adrenalin rush but it just isn't the same.

While I may long for a country lifestyle, I cannot escape the fact that I was born in the city and probably cannot live away from it for too long. After all, I'd go crazy without my internet connection, my cell phone, my 24 hour 7-11 store, the huge malls ... you get the drift, right? I've lived in the city almost all my life, save for a couple of years when I was living in small seaside town, but I was too young to really enjoy life back then. I'm so used to the lifestyle here but I'm envious of those who come from small towns and are so full of rich experiences from their childhood there.

Maybe one day, when I can finally afford to retire, I might move out of this cold concrete city and move to some quite far away country side with those rolling hills and lush greenery I envision, sitting in my rocking chair watching the birds (not that kind of birds, mind you ... LOL!) go by or catching a little snooze time under the old shady oak tree. Maybe then I'll finally learn how to fish :D But I could certainly do with a proper toilet and not the outhouse that Nessa grew up with though cos I'm sure those coconut husks must have hurt quite a bit ... LOL!
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