When we moved to Grand Cane, we looked at building a house on family land just outside of the village. My heart soared as I pictured a farmhouse with a long winding porch encircling our home, cows in the nearby pasture grazing contentedly, and even a pond in our front yard.
Until my husband said, “Well, the Wi-Fi will be spotty at best.” Say what? “Um, honey, what exactly do those words mean?” My inside city girl voice kicked in. Which, at that time, was also my outside city girl voice. Let’s be honest…I was 100% city girl, inside and out. My city girl tendencies couldn’t fathom a place on earth where Wi-Fi didn’t exist. Didn’t that only happen in third world countries? Louisiana is one of the fifty states of the greatest country in the world! How could there be places that didn’t have Wi-Fi?
And yet these pockets of uncivility dot the surrounding areas of Grand Cane. My city girl cried out in protest, and we didn’t build a house in the country. We fell in love with an existing home off Blunt Mill Road, just two minutes from bustling downtown Grand Cane. Wi-Fi for everyone, and no one will go without…right?
Uh, wrong. My husband called AT&T, credit card in hand, smile on his face and ready to hand over our hard earned money for the beloved Wi-Fi. AT&T kindly informed John they didn’t service our area. Thanks for calling.
Next please! We discovered Sparklight services for the country folk living outside of AT&T’s kingdom. We like them well enough. Okay, John likes them well enough. This city girl turned country still struggles with my Wi-Fi disappearing at crucial moments of the day. You know, when I’m meeting a writing deadline, for example. Always, it seems, when I’m trying to jump on the internet and search for important information like, what’s the best poison that can’t be traced? Or, how much blood spills when you stab someone with a blunt object? Don’t be alarmed—it’s all research for my cozy mystery series. Let’s just hope the FBI doesn’t find my browser search history! But that’s a topic for another day…
A few weeks ago John convinced me to ditch the civilized world and take a ride out to the ranch. You know, look at the cows, the trees, the countryside, the lack of Wi-Fi. At first I said no. “Oh, that’s okay, you go by yourself. I’m happy to hang out here, just me and my civilization.” But my husband reminded me how much I’d loved coming to the ranch and embracing the outdoors. He brought up the times we’d come out with the kids, before they moved away and began their big city lives. John helped me remember how much I love living in the country, Wi-Fi absence and all. Or maybe he guilted me, but many times that’s a fine line. All I know is that I needed to visit the outskirts of Grand Cane, where the cows roam free and the Wi-Fi is spotty at best.
Thank goodness he did! I reconnected with my husband, my peace, the cows…even the alligator in the pond. My visit to the Land Without Civilization reminded me why I consider Grand Cane a little slice of Heaven. When I can’t post my selfie on social media to show the world how much fun I’m having in the country, then I have to take time and actually have fun in the country. Ironic, isn’t it? When I’m deprived of the rest of the world, I focus on the world right in front of me. And honestly…isn’t that what my focus should be, anyway?