Have lived in rural southern Missouri
for five years now. Have learned a few
things so thought I'd share in case
you are thinking of visiting/moving here.
*Weather - Storms here are unlike anything
I've seen before - so intense! Talk about
rock and roll! Keep an eye on the weather and
have a plan in place in any type of situation.
Those sirens you hear? Those are tornado
warning sirens (honest we didn't know this at
first). Get to shelter! Ice storms? Be prepared
for power outages and damage. Wind? Hail?
Snow? Black ice? Heat and humidity? Oh
yeah did we forget to mention this stuff to ya?
Meteorologists are awesome here, keeping you
abreast of the situation as much as they can.
Pay attention to them. Most lives are lost from
someone not heeding the warnings.
*You MUST have a garden if you live here. I think
it's a law (snicker). The garden can be as big or
as little as you want it to be. You can plant whatever
you want.
*Go to at least ONE farm show. You know, to blend in
with the locals. Act like you know what the person is
talking about - whether it be bulls or tractors or whatever.
*99.99999% of small town Missouri is conservative. They
are NRA members and they do own firearms. Don't mess
with them or try to tell them what to do.
*This is the Bible Belt. Baptist of many variations is the
most popular religion by far. A big goal of their's is to
try to get you to attend their church. Be honest, up front
and polite about your views on this and you won't have
many problems. They mean well. If they want to pray for
your soul because you don't belong to an organized church,
just thank them and let them. You can use all the prayers
anyway and you know it!
*Get used to simple food. Home grown veggies, simple meats
and dishes. Even the mexican food is usually not very spicy
(with the exception of El Imperial in Cabool). Don't expect
fancy dishes as they don't know how to cook it anyway.
*You must fish and hunt. Hunting is not the same, it consists
of baiting the deer with food filled deer stands, then waiting
for them to show up before picking them off :) The deer here
are those cute little white tail fellas too, not the big mule deer.
With fishing, it's pretty hard to not catch anything, but it
doesn't matter if you don't. Just go out for a few hours at some
ungodly early morning hour and bait a hook.
*If it's hot you go to the river. And usually drink. Especially on
Saturdays.
*Be friendly and get to know everyone. They won't bite. And
if you ever need anything they will be the first to jump. One time
I was negotiating with a guy over what he wanted to charge me
to mow my lawn. I was hard pressing him to lower his price. Before
I was done he was going to mow it for free. NO I didn't let him.
*It's okay to be different - just don't go around trying to change everyone.
*If they make a mistake on your bill and it's in their
favor, don't assume they did it on purpose.
*Housing standards and general living are not the same as other
places I've lived. There are no building codes in the county for
example. So it's always buyer beware. And people here do not
put an emphasis on material possessions as much as people in
other parts of the country do.
for five years now. Have learned a few
things so thought I'd share in case
you are thinking of visiting/moving here.
*Weather - Storms here are unlike anything
I've seen before - so intense! Talk about
rock and roll! Keep an eye on the weather and
have a plan in place in any type of situation.
Those sirens you hear? Those are tornado
warning sirens (honest we didn't know this at
first). Get to shelter! Ice storms? Be prepared
for power outages and damage. Wind? Hail?
Snow? Black ice? Heat and humidity? Oh
yeah did we forget to mention this stuff to ya?
Meteorologists are awesome here, keeping you
abreast of the situation as much as they can.
Pay attention to them. Most lives are lost from
someone not heeding the warnings.
*You MUST have a garden if you live here. I think
it's a law (snicker). The garden can be as big or
as little as you want it to be. You can plant whatever
you want.
*Go to at least ONE farm show. You know, to blend in
with the locals. Act like you know what the person is
talking about - whether it be bulls or tractors or whatever.
*99.99999% of small town Missouri is conservative. They
are NRA members and they do own firearms. Don't mess
with them or try to tell them what to do.
*This is the Bible Belt. Baptist of many variations is the
most popular religion by far. A big goal of their's is to
try to get you to attend their church. Be honest, up front
and polite about your views on this and you won't have
many problems. They mean well. If they want to pray for
your soul because you don't belong to an organized church,
just thank them and let them. You can use all the prayers
anyway and you know it!
*Get used to simple food. Home grown veggies, simple meats
and dishes. Even the mexican food is usually not very spicy
(with the exception of El Imperial in Cabool). Don't expect
fancy dishes as they don't know how to cook it anyway.
*You must fish and hunt. Hunting is not the same, it consists
of baiting the deer with food filled deer stands, then waiting
for them to show up before picking them off :) The deer here
are those cute little white tail fellas too, not the big mule deer.
With fishing, it's pretty hard to not catch anything, but it
doesn't matter if you don't. Just go out for a few hours at some
ungodly early morning hour and bait a hook.
*If it's hot you go to the river. And usually drink. Especially on
Saturdays.
*Be friendly and get to know everyone. They won't bite. And
if you ever need anything they will be the first to jump. One time
I was negotiating with a guy over what he wanted to charge me
to mow my lawn. I was hard pressing him to lower his price. Before
I was done he was going to mow it for free. NO I didn't let him.
*It's okay to be different - just don't go around trying to change everyone.
*If they make a mistake on your bill and it's in their
favor, don't assume they did it on purpose.
*Housing standards and general living are not the same as other
places I've lived. There are no building codes in the county for
example. So it's always buyer beware. And people here do not
put an emphasis on material possessions as much as people in
other parts of the country do.
