Gridlocked

I'm back. I've returned to where I came from. Some people have their 'crib;' I have my grid.

For the past three days I've lived and worked with a school 'off of the grid,' deep inside the rural counties of Florida. Rural life appeals to me a lot. I hope someday that I retire to a calm and serene ranch filled with nature's goodness. The community people that I met sure seemed to enjoy their lifestyle.

I missed my grid while I was there. The creature comforts of connectedness blatantly absent. Cell phone service? Very limited. Internet access? Sort of. VPN for e-mail? Nope. Television? Six channels, two of them in Spanish. And the kicker... no Starbucks. Perhaps that is the lack of a kicker.

When I got back to a big city with cell phone access I was greeted by a plethora of text, Tweet and e-mail messages and voice mails. Apparently people still expected me to be on their grid. 

As I sat waiting for my plane and sipping my grande, single-pump, hazelnut latte, I thought about how good it felt to be back. But I also thought about how nice a few days of gridlock felt.

I'm looking forward to a rural lifestyle someday. I just hope it has a Starbucks.