City Mouse, Country Mouse

Visiting my daughter in the city – an apartment in an old brownstone -I hear the footsteps and spigots of her neighbors – the on and off of life one wall or ceiling away- and I realize I have never really lived in a building that housed multiple people. Maybe just a college dorm or a vacation rental.

I am not used to the footsteps of strangers or neighbors in the morning preparing to start their day – their routines, their morning sounds. I like to listen for the songbirds at sunrise and the cicadas singing us to sleep at night. The quiet sound of wind in the trees and peepers in spring. Those are the sounds that I’m accustomed to. I am a country mouse.

Aside from employment, the arts, fine food, and culture I wonder what the draw is to this semi-communal living – high rises of life- streets filled with vehicular real estate, horns and sirens– stores battling the war between brick and mortar and online shopping. People from all over the world- a united nations of languages and food and culture – a world, a country, a biosphere onto itself. ‘The city that never sleeps’ – the hustling, bustling throng of life.

I know I don’t belong there –but it can be a nice place to visit. I try to look straight forward and not smile too much. I think it’s OK to smile at the dogs that pass by but probably not the people. It’s not that they’re not friendly, it’s just that it seems that everyone wants to remain anonymous. Is it the same anonymity that follows city people when they visit the country?

It was Aesop that first told the story of ‘The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” followed by a number of variations on the same theme by different authors. I have taken the liberty of calling the Town mice – city mice- as now town is more like a village-and a village is now more like the country. Is it a matter of fate or just knowing where you belong? Can a city mouse ever really feel at home in the country and can a county mouse ever feel at home in the city? There surely are multitudes that seem to enjoy the best of both worlds. Yet, my brief stays at my daughters are a clear reminder to me that I am, and will always be a country mouse.

*****

The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella.

"You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."

Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.