I am planning to move to the big city of Albany or Schenectady in a few more months. And I while I don't particularly plan to become a male prostitute in the city, it will force me to think more about my realities and my life in the often alienating and often lonely city. I will probably leave the stetson either home or in my truck, and wear my suit a lot more.

What will it mean for me living in the big city? Will I become less countrified, less rural, less attached to my roots? Will my identity change and go towards blackness – in a bleak world like that of Midnight Cowboy?

I was a student at Plattsburgh State for two semesters, living on campus in downtown Plattsburgh. I literally lived in a city, surrounded by many people. The buildings I lived in had between 200 to 230 students people in them, including one on the 10th floor of a high-rise, and the City of Plattsburgh had a population of twenty thousand. Yet, somehow I survived pretty decently there and had I good time.

I didn't live in the city, even if my bed was there and I attended class there. I spent most of my weekends on the road, and rode my bike many evenings deep into the countryside. I spent a lot of time exploring myself there, and learning a lot about farming and rural life – all from the small city of Plattsburgh.

While Albany ain't as small as Plattsburgh, and it's a bit longer of a drive out into the rural freedom of the countryside, I think I can still keep the same identity and be the same person I always have been in the past. And I can also expand myself, and learn new things both by reading in the city, and spending

Without having to drive my pickup everyday to work, I will be able to save it for even more lengthy weekend explorations. I can drive across the state and the country, or at least deep enough into Schoharie County to camp out in a lean-to or in the woods, and hear all the sounds of nature. I can learn new skills by reading, and most importantly save towards to building my future and my dreams.

The city won't be the place where I go to die. Nor will it be my identity any more then it was in Plattsburgh. It will just be a place to stay and lie down my head at night until bigger things come along. And my heart will still be in Rural America.