Country Life
Living out in the country isn't for everyone. I love it, but that's just me.
We live half a mile from the nearest paved roads, either way you go and there are only two ways, north or west. The east/west roads are named, like Tecumseh Road, Franklin Road and Rock Creek Road. The north/south roads are numbered streets like 156th Street, 168th Street and 180th Street. If you follow 156th about four miles north to Stella Road, it becomes Peebly Road. And if you turn left onto Stella it becomes 149th Street. These are important things to know when giving directions.
We live four miles from Dollar General Stores, one down on Highway 9 and one up at Stella. Country Boy market is a little east of the Dollar General on Highway 9. It's a full service grocery store with a deli, locally sourced grass-fed beef, plumbing parts, tools and chainsaw oil if you need it.
The closest store is the Absentee Shawnee Tribal store and Valero gas station, two miles south on 156th. It sits in front of the Thunderbird Casino.
There are two out-of-business restaurants, one adjoining the AST store and one across the street. It's hard to stay in business when your potential customers can get fried chicken, fresh cooked pizza and really good cheese burgers at every convenience store in the area. There's even a convenience store with a chef and gourmet foods a few miles west on 149th (Stella Road).
We are a little over a mile to the closest access to Lake Thunderbird and there are several campgrounds and boat ramps nearby.
Little Ax is a loose-knit community (we are part of The City of Norman, but they're a long ways from here). There is a large public school complex with pre-school through high school. The schools are on a four day week, so football isn't always on Friday nights, but it's still a big deal.
The local American Legion hall has all-you-can-eat catfish, with all the trimmings, on the first Saturday of every month. It's a good place to see neighbors and it's where candidates for Norman city offices come to give us their pitch. The Legion hall is also where we vote.
It's not unusual to see deer or raccoons dead on the side of the road. That's something people sometimes see in the suburbs, but we've also seen a thousand pound hog and a two thousand pound Angus bull dead in a ditch. Driving at night requires special caution.
South on 156th Street a ways there is a sharp S curve. We jokingly call it "Dead Man's Curve." Not many people have died there, but at least twenty-five times a year somebody overshoots and knocks out the telephone pole, also knocking out our electricity. We've even seen a car up in a tree down there.
Jurisdiction is complicated on the curve. Any time there's a wreck there, the State Park or Highway Patrol has to investigate. So does the City of Norman. And the Absentee Shawnee Police. And the Cleveland County Sheriff. That's a lot of law enforcement.
We have a fire station less than ten minutes from here, but the nearest ambulance is a full half hour.
There are large wild animals out here. We see deer every day and right now we have several packs of coyotes in the area. We hear them yipping and howling very close by every night.
We have hawks, vultures and owls, as well as all kinds of smaller birds and animals.
We also have lots of trees. We can only see one neighboring house from here. They are good neighbors who mostly leave us alone, occasionally give us eggs and squash, and generally appreciate country living as much as we do.
It's a pleasant life with few traffic jams and little highway noise. The drive to town is a dreaded necessity once or twice a week, but the drive home is very pleasant and we often detour to look at the lake.
Country living. It's not for everyone, but we love it.
Stephen P.
We live half a mile from the nearest paved roads, either way you go and there are only two ways, north or west. The east/west roads are named, like Tecumseh Road, Franklin Road and Rock Creek Road. The north/south roads are numbered streets like 156th Street, 168th Street and 180th Street. If you follow 156th about four miles north to Stella Road, it becomes Peebly Road. And if you turn left onto Stella it becomes 149th Street. These are important things to know when giving directions.
We live four miles from Dollar General Stores, one down on Highway 9 and one up at Stella. Country Boy market is a little east of the Dollar General on Highway 9. It's a full service grocery store with a deli, locally sourced grass-fed beef, plumbing parts, tools and chainsaw oil if you need it.
The closest store is the Absentee Shawnee Tribal store and Valero gas station, two miles south on 156th. It sits in front of the Thunderbird Casino.
There are two out-of-business restaurants, one adjoining the AST store and one across the street. It's hard to stay in business when your potential customers can get fried chicken, fresh cooked pizza and really good cheese burgers at every convenience store in the area. There's even a convenience store with a chef and gourmet foods a few miles west on 149th (Stella Road).
We are a little over a mile to the closest access to Lake Thunderbird and there are several campgrounds and boat ramps nearby.
Little Ax is a loose-knit community (we are part of The City of Norman, but they're a long ways from here). There is a large public school complex with pre-school through high school. The schools are on a four day week, so football isn't always on Friday nights, but it's still a big deal.
The local American Legion hall has all-you-can-eat catfish, with all the trimmings, on the first Saturday of every month. It's a good place to see neighbors and it's where candidates for Norman city offices come to give us their pitch. The Legion hall is also where we vote.
It's not unusual to see deer or raccoons dead on the side of the road. That's something people sometimes see in the suburbs, but we've also seen a thousand pound hog and a two thousand pound Angus bull dead in a ditch. Driving at night requires special caution.
South on 156th Street a ways there is a sharp S curve. We jokingly call it "Dead Man's Curve." Not many people have died there, but at least twenty-five times a year somebody overshoots and knocks out the telephone pole, also knocking out our electricity. We've even seen a car up in a tree down there.
Jurisdiction is complicated on the curve. Any time there's a wreck there, the State Park or Highway Patrol has to investigate. So does the City of Norman. And the Absentee Shawnee Police. And the Cleveland County Sheriff. That's a lot of law enforcement.
We have a fire station less than ten minutes from here, but the nearest ambulance is a full half hour.
There are large wild animals out here. We see deer every day and right now we have several packs of coyotes in the area. We hear them yipping and howling very close by every night.
We have hawks, vultures and owls, as well as all kinds of smaller birds and animals.
We also have lots of trees. We can only see one neighboring house from here. They are good neighbors who mostly leave us alone, occasionally give us eggs and squash, and generally appreciate country living as much as we do.
It's a pleasant life with few traffic jams and little highway noise. The drive to town is a dreaded necessity once or twice a week, but the drive home is very pleasant and we often detour to look at the lake.
Country living. It's not for everyone, but we love it.
Stephen P.
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