Return to Mayberry....Kind Of

Katy, Texas is my Mayberry.

If you have read much of my writings, which aren’t necessarily plentiful, you know that I love small town America.  I grew up in a small Texas town that didn’t see a lot of change over the years.  In fact, that town is still very small.  It was kind of like Mayberry in the TV series.  Everybody knew everybody and it was a great place to grow up.

Awhile back, I stumbled across a piece of property for sale.  A half acre of vacant land in a residential section of Katy, Texas.  And we bought it.  Took about a year and a half to get our house built, but alas this past February my husband, our 3 dachshunds (Roxie, Reba, and Betsy), and I moved in and set up house.

Katy is about 25 miles west of downtown Houston.  So we are very close to the city.  The suburban area around Katy has seen tremendous growth over the last 20 years, reaching into the hundreds of thousands.  But the actual Katy city limits (Old Katy, Katy Proper), according to the 2010 census, had a population under 15,000.  And it’s really the epitome of small town America.

I love living in old Katy.  It’s quiet and I can see the stars at night.  For the first time in many years I saw a lightning bug one night.  I also saw a possum cross the street that same night but that’s another story for later.  My neighbors wave to me when they see me in the yard.  We have conversations across the chain link fence that separates our property.  Yes, chain link fence instead of a wood fence that would have made me feel like I live in a compound.  I know more of my neighbors in old Katy than I knew in my previous neighborhood of 15 years.  It’s just a different environment.

Town folk congregate at Snappy’s Café to shoot the breeze or enjoy a delicious meal.  Police patrol through the town regularly making sure the citizens are safe.  There’s quite frequently a fish fry, pancake supper, or BBQ dinner somewhere to raise money for a local need.  At the local grocery store and meat market you can buy meat that grew up just down the road.  And they will process your deer meat for you.  I actually sat next to the city mayor when I attended a meeting with city government during the building process of my house.  Now that wouldn’t happen just anywhere.  And he gave me his card and told me to call him if I ever needed help with something. 

I really do feel like I live in Mayberry.  And I wouldn’t change that for anything.