Confession time

I hate to admit it but you won't tell anyone this, will you? I have a little dirty secret that I need to get off my chest. Lately, I've found myself having the country radio station among the two or three stations that I troll through for listening pleasure while I'm battling it out in traffic or hitting the open freeway! A bit of background: Growing up in rural Saskatchewan had lots of good things to it: fresh air (except near the barns), lack of fear about riding my bike down the street, garden fresh produce (oh yeah... child labour harvesting in the cold falls!), a sense of community and friendly neighbors (trust me, we could never get away with anything due to the 'interested' neighbors when my parents were out for the night.) However, there are lots of things about growing up in rural SK that might leave you a bit scarred. Wrangler jeans being considered stylish which only look good on people who are incredibly fit or slim. The high school guys fostering cancer through chew... you know the little puck sized Copenhagen tobacco in their back pocket... put it in your mouth, chew for a while and then spit out black grossness-eww! Pick up trucks driving by you blowing loose straw in your face as the wind picks up. An inability to cut class because if anyone saw you, they'd tell your parents before you got home. Shopping at the local SAAN store for your first training bra with your mom and knowing the cute high school guy who is stocking an aisle over from you... PTSD, anyone? AND people would listen to country music ALL the time and think that it was good. Not all of it is good. A lot of it is twangy. It tends to be depressing. It is about loss and life. Boo hoo! Going away to college and falling in love with ABBA was the start of my enjoyment of happy music. I'd happily leave jumpin' out of the way of black chew hittin' the sidewalk, rather 'fresh' barn air and sad country music behind. Until this summer, when I ended a relationship and battled significant burnout. All the sudden country music writers seem like the most insightful people. They didn't sugar coat things and told it like it was. I could get into that more. I played the latest Martina McBride cd and Dixie Chicks would be cause for the radio to get cranked. While I would usually only last a couple of songs until it seemed to get too country for me, I found comfort in people singing about heart break and disappointment... that was the season that my life was in. I could agree with those people. Thankfully, this season is lifting and sunshine has returned to my life. I'm going back to listening to the rock station but I will still have nostalgic moments when I hit the button for country music to see what they're saying now. If you'll excuse me, I need to do a clean sweep of my house to insure that it's a bit more rock 'n roll than a little bit country!