perks and gestures...

   There are perks to living in the country. Ask most people and they will readily give you a list of the things that they find advantageous about living away from the city. One of the more obvious ones would be the peace and quiet, (or at least the country version of it for there is a whole different slew of noises found in the rural that are lost in the city setting.) Some other ones may be clean air, the ability to see more than ten stars at night, or perhaps even the general sense of community that can be available in the country. One of the things that I myself have always enjoyed, even when younger and just visiting the country as a city-boy, is nothing but a small gesture. A little sign that means more than it at first may seem. I am referring to the quick two-fingers you lift from the steering wheel as a wave. An exchange with the driver of the vehicle you are about to drive past heading in the opposite direction. It is something that happens almost out of habit, just a friendly and quick ‘hey’ or ‘hello’ from another person passing by. Not everybody does it and it isn’t something to make a big deal of, but it is a nice show of civility in a crazy, sometimes hostile world where any gesture received by another driver can often be much less so. It may seem a bit silly but the two-finger wave is on my ever-growing list of advantages to living in the country.