For those that knew me in the city you might think that this would be a little hard for me to take. You'd know that I went about my day in a brisk, determined, purposeful manner. Some might even call it manic. But eveything happened fast.
Now there is no place for fast.
Case Study 1: 50km per hour speed signs
The 50 kilometre per hour speed limits in town don't bother me. I drive at 50. I used to think that these signs were just a reminder to drive at 60km/h - not an instruction to travel at what I used to think was the debilatingly slow speed of 50km/h.
Case Study 2: Chatting
People have more time to talk in the country. Take my courier driver for example. Phil is a Fastway Couriers franchisee in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. Everyday he delivers and collects parcels for his customers - one of whom is me. Phil has time to chat. He doesn't force the chat on you - but is happy to get out of his van and spend four, five or even ten minutes chatting with you. Steve, my Fastway driver in Blaxland, could spare maybe four, five or even ten seconds to chat with you - all the while climbing back into his van, and fastening his seat belt. it was go, go, go with Steve. But Phil - like most country folk has time to talk.
In the streets of Casino it is common to see little clusters of two or three people chatting on the curb. I passed one such group the other day as I walked from one end of town to the other to go to the post office. When I came back some seven minutes later - they were still there chatting. Poeple stop and chat on the street, in the bank, in the supermarket, in the bakery, at the petrol station - and they even pull their cars up next to each other off the road and chat. There's lots of time for chatting.
Case Study 3: I'll have to look at that
Sue's brother and his family are also living on the property until their house is finished being built in town. Matt works as a cartographer in Lismore. He puts in his eight hours there and then comes home to put in another three hours or so on the farm. Life's full in the country. Matt is very helpful - but doesn't see the urgency in things that others might see as urgent. For example he said he'd take a look at the chainsaw for me the other day - to see why it keeps konking out. We'll see how long it takes to have a look at. He has also been saying that we'll kill a couple of sheep this weekend - for the past three weeks now. Time is a variable comodity. This is not a criticism. Just an observation.
With somethings - like harvest for example - time is of the essence. Nothing gets in the way of a timely cropping. But life just kind of fits in around those events.
