The End

November has come and gone, nearly. It wasn't so difficult to blog every day now was it?

One of my favorite NaBlo bloggers is Maria Perry Mohan. She's an Irish girl who married an Indian man and they now raise their children together in India. Her posts about life in India are fascinating. I've often wished that I lived in an interesting locale that I could write about. But I live in an ordinary little town in southwest Oklahoma.

At least I thought it was ordinary until a friend at the Lawton library mentioned that it must be quiet in Indiahoma. When I started telling her how noisy my town is, I realized that it probably isn't ordinary either.

Dogs bark all over town. One gets started and the rest join in. There's a leash law on the books but we don't have any police so there's no one to enforce it. So dogs run free barking all the way.

The family two doors down keeps a show steer in their back yard. I don't know if he's lonely or if cattle are just noisy animals but he certainly gives the dogs a run for their money.

A man two blocks east of us raises roosters. He may be out of business since they outlawed cock fighting. Or perhaps he's shipping to Mexico. But talk about racket, a yard full of roosters in pens are masterful noise makers.

It isn't just animals that steal the peace and quiet from our rural village. The Fort Sill firing range is just 2 miles north of Indiahoma. That's where missile launches land and anything else they practice that has to have somewhere to crash into. The sounds of practicing war are not quiet.

Altus Air Force Base is west of Indiahoma and they practice flying jets. Ever heard a sonic boom? Breaking the sound barrier also disturbs the peace.

Some teenagers drive too fast through town and have cars that make a lot of noise. Again, no police, who's going to stop them? We also have a large elderly population so it isn't unusual to have an ambulance blare through town for one reason or another.

The first time my dad visited from southern California, his first remark about Indiahoma was, "How do you stand the noise around here?" He had a hard time sleeping at night because he wasn't used to so much noise. I don't think he ever made a second visit.

When I first moved here, I was constantly reminded of Green Acres. I've never seen a talking pig, but I think I've seen everything else.

From my home to yours, Happy December!

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