While blogsurfing, I found a link on NYCO’s blog to the York Staters. It’s written by two people who have lived in Upstate New York all their lives and are very proud of it. It’s a great read, especially for those of us who are proud to live here. I’ve lived, worked, and gotten an education in Upstate New York, and I’ve loved every minute of those (almost 30) years. They provided a link to an article in the Elmira Star-Gazette entitled “75 reasons why one lifelong resident wouldn’t live anywhere else“. This is a great article, and despite the fact that it’s about the Elmira area, it easily translates into any small town in UpNY. As proof, here’s my list of 25 reasons I love the Upstate New York village I grew up in:

1. The village has a population of only 270, so;
2. For good or bad, everyone knew who I was.
3. I traveled an hour to school each morning, lots of time to finish my homework.
4. I graduated with 35 people in my class, so I knew each and everyone of them.
5. No where on earth is the air as crisp or the leaves as colorful as they were in my hometown in Fall.
6. The winters were long and hard, but the sledding hill was always open.
7. Friends to sled with were always around.
8. You were often related to your friends.
9. The ballpark was always empty, so we could start a game of touch football.
10. The summers were hot, but there was always room at the swimming hole.
11. There was a better, deeper swimming hole once you got older.
11. The lake and the beach were only a few minutes away, but all your friends were at the swimming hole.
12. The postmaster never mixed up the mail, even when it was incorrectly addressed.
13. The postmaster knew whenever I had a girlfriend and always asked about her.
13. You could always find a job helping out the local farmer.
14. My brother and I earned enough money haying it our first summer to buy the Nintendo we so desperately wanted.
15. The store, only open intermittently, was great for spending the few dollars you had left at the end of the week.
16. You could get your car worked for almost nothing.
17. The local newspaper had a reporter for each small town to relate the town news, no matter how insignificant.
18. I learned to drive on the empty backroads.
19. I learned to how to really drive in the snow on the backroads.
20. The one-finger wave from the steering wheel.
21. Sleepovers were often under the stars or in a tent.
22. The nights were intensely quiet, the stars incredibly brilliant.
23. The nearest grocery store, fast-food restaurant, or gas station was 15 minutes away.
24. The cemetery held 200 years worth of ancestors and relatives.
25. The town was full of family and friends.

Wow, that was fun, and I think I could probably come up with another 25 without much effort!

By the way, check out baloghblog’s recent post for some examples of what a kilowatt hour of electricity will get you. He also mentions a great gadget called a Kill-a-Watt Meter that measures energy consumption of anything that plugs into the wall. I added it to Christmas list - sounds like a great way to find those appliances that are needlessly using too much energy.