Danyella+T’s+OpEd+Article


 * Ge **** t out of the concrete jungle. **



I don’t get it. It blows me away to think that people truly enjoy living in large, yet cramped, smog-filled cities. I don’t understand what it so appealing…

I have lived in Ventura for nearly 2 years, and HATE it. It’s not the lifestyle that appeals to me. And I feel bad for people who have lived in Ventura for their entire lives and haven’t really been anywhere else except a 30-mile radius of Ventura.

And don’t get me wrong, sometimes the sunsets are breath taking, but if that’s the only reason someone lives in a city… that’s sad.

Out of the 16 years of my life I have only lived in the city for roughly 5 years. And I still feel the same, they are boring, ugly, beastly, futile, and just dull.

When I lived in Idaho, I literally lived 5 miles from the closest traffic light. I lived on a dirt road, which literally wasn’t on the map, and there were only four houses on my road. My horses were in the pasture directly in front of my house, and about half a mile from my house there was a river. Every weekend, from Friday after school, to late Sunday night, I was on the road with my horses and Rodeo family. We would hit rodeo after rodeo, race after race.

Bonfires, and fishing was how my friends and me hung out. We didn’t care if you were in the latest fashion, as long as you could keep the fire going and reel in your line you were good enough to hangout with us.

And even before I lived in Idaho… My hometown, Greenville, in northern California, is all hicks and hillbillies, and I either know or am related to about half of that town. And I love it. I count down the days until I get to go home, and be in my element, and be myself. Until I can sit by the lake and reel in lines all day, or ride the four-wheelers with my best friend, or ride into town on our horses to grab some grub, or runnin' around the Carmichael holler, or walk the back roads as the sun sets.

{Here's a taste of what I call life.. My life.} [[image:IMG_0533.JPG width="800" height="597" caption="Home. (Greenville, California)"]][[image:IMG_0506.JPG width="800" height="597" caption="Bucks Lake, California (About 45 minutes from Greenville)"]][[image:IMG_0097.JPG caption="My Best Friend Logan Carmichael. (lives in Greenville.)"]] Get out of the concrete jungle, breathe the fresh air, go fishing all day long, go for a hike, watch the clouds, watch the sunset over the valley, gaze at the billions of stars, light a bonfire and have marshmallows. Just live outside of the busy hustle for just one day, and you'll understand why I love it so much.