The Rural Voice, 2002-03, Page 38NOT FROM
AROUND
HERE
If you think farming is the simple life,
try explaining to a stranger
from the city
Bg Nancy Rogers
0
34 THE RURAL VOICE
should have known I was in
trouble when he called from the
local town to ask directions to the
farm. He had driven up from the city
that morning to "conduct an
insurance investigation". 1 had told
him to come south on County Road
12 but, masking his annoyance with a
forced jocularity, he explained that he
couldn't find it. Of course, since it is
called 6th Avenue in town, maybe
that was the problem.
He did, however, arrive eventually
but his appearance, when he got out
of his midnight blue Lexus, did not
reassure me. For one thing, he was
not wearing a baseball cap. He had on
a suit, white shirt and tie. My unease
began to mount.
Seated across from me at my
kitchen table he began with "What is
your name'?" (I thought he knew
whom he was coming to see. After
all, he had called me.)
Next, he wanted to know where I
lived. (As if he hadn't, after all,
arrived safely.) I patiently recited,
"#411 — Concession 10, Deer Creek
Township."
Frowning at the papers in front of
him he countered with, "But it says
here your address is RR2,
Sticksville." I explained to him that
he had my mailing address. He
looked meaningfully at me over his
glasses. "So you don't live here. You
live in Sticksville. My information
was that you live on the farm." I told
him that I live here but that the post
office is in town. Suspiciously, he
asked for my postal code. I smiled
and informed him that it is the
Sticksville one. "But you live in Deer
Creek." He wasn't smiling.
I explained that Deer Creek
Township does not have its own
postal code. Why? Because Deer
Creek Township is not a postal
district. My postal code is the
Sticksville one. No, I'm not living in
Sticksville, but that is my postal code
because that is where my mail goes.
My mailing address is RR2,
Sticksville. Yes, we are at No. 411 —
Concession 10, Deer Creek
Township. That is my emergency
address. No, this is not an emergency,
I always live here, but that is the
address I would give if it were an
emergency and I had to call 911. No,
it does NOT have its own postal
code! Reluctantly, he wrote it down.