From City Sister to Country Cousin

One Woman’s Journey from the Big City to a Small Kentucky Town

Contributed By Frannie Meshorer
I feel privileged to have been born and raised in the ‘big’ city of Washington, D.C. I had exciting jobs during exciting times in our nation’s history. I worked for the U.S. Department of Justice when Bobby Kennedy was Attorney General…during the Vietnam era, and Martin Luther King’s March on Selma. Then, I was in the Director’s Office at NASA when we flew to the moon, before going back to the Justice Department, working for the Criminal Division when ‘WATERGATE’ busted loose. (Our office actually investigated the case when it first broke before a Special Prosecutor was assigned). I was still working for the Director’s Office, when the newly-formed Federal Drug Enforcement Administration was created and the Criminal Division. I was involved in major cases concerning national security…from spies to major federal narcotics cases.I even spent some time on ‘Capitol Hill’ working for a U.S. Congresswoman. Ahh…the list goes on and on, and I will be eternally grateful for my “City Life” and all the interesting characters whose paths I crossed. And now that my husband and I are ‘retired’ (OH, WHAT A SILLY WORD!!! .. sounds like a person was TIRED and then got RE-tired!) …I believe these ‘Freedom Years’ as I prefer to call them…are some of the busiest in our lives! As many people who work in Washington, D.C. do…we lived in the ‘suburbs’…on a beautiful river cove in Annapolis, the Capitol of the state of Maryland and home to the U.S. Naval Academy. We were between two major American cities, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland and all the culture they offered. We were just a hop, skip and a jump from the Chesapeake Bay and a few more ‘nautical miles’ to the Atlantic Ocean!

And as life will often throw an opportunity in our paths, I discovered two civil-war era log cabins for sale deep in the heart of Kentucky! After visiting these cabins nestled down in a ‘holler’ and surrounded by 3,000 acres of woods. I was in love all over again! I begged, cajoled, and promised ANYTHING to my husband. I even told him he could cut up my credit cards if he would just buy Cabin Creek Farm for us to live our retirement years in. (O.K…maybe I did go back on that credit-card-cuttin’ thingie!!) The hardest thing to do when moving ‘away’ is usually leaving family and friends, and this was true for me. I wanted one last big ‘adventure’ in this ‘chapter’ of our ‘book of life’. My husband was an avid ‘sailor of the seas’ but luckily he is also a hiker, backpacker and lover of the forests. Since we had lived ‘on the water’ for the past 25 years of our lives together. I used my ‘womanly wiles’ to convince him to give ‘the woods’ a try!

We were so blessed that these cabins were located in a wonderful little county in central Kentucky… t’wixt and t’ween the mountains of Eastern Kentucky .. and the flatlands and ‘water’ of Western Kentucky. Bluegrass and Horse Country is to the north of us and the Pennyrile to the south. We have the best of all worlds, and I am a firm believer that Kentucky is America’s Best Kept Secret! It did not take long before I found myself a part of ‘country living’ in Green County, Kentucky that first year. I do believe I joined every organization, club and council our County Seat, Greensburg, had to offer. Oh, and did I mention that the first year I was here I was living alone? (not including two Olde English Sheepdog puppies I surprised my husband with as a gift that first Christmas) This came as the result of our home in Maryland not selling for a full year! Hank kept his job at the U.S. Department of Justice, and would drive the 14 hours back and forth between our homes to come to visit me once a month, each time with a huge U-Haul full of furniture and belongings. Our home in the city had 24 rooms, and now we were going to live in a four room log cabin! In all he made 12 “moving” trips! Finally, one year to the month our Maryland home sold. Hank retired the next day, loaded up his truck with the few remaining things in the house, and a day later arrived at our new Olde Kentucky Home!

I have found the same kindness and friendliness in my country friends that I found in my city friends. I honestly do not see much difference in the basic lifestyles of the city and the country. Oh yes, I know the City seems to never sleep and people do hustle and bustle at a faster pace of living. We have come to love the same serenity here in the woods that we had on the dock overlooking the river in our back-yard in ‘the city’.
We have the same good-hearted people that are there for you in time of need. Whether I needed a ride, 35 miles into the city for work, because my car broken down, or needed rescued by neighbors because I have locked myself out of the house on a snowy morning here at the cabins. I also find the same stimulating conversations around a pot-luck dinner table, or joining friends to go to the movies or a play. I have taught the ways of presenting a Proper Ladies’ Tea Party and have been taught to bake a perfect apple pie from apples from our very own apple trees. Both City and Country have surrounded me with beauty and compassion for those less fortunate.

I do believe that had I been born and raised in the Country, and moved to the City, I would find the same important aspects of living there too. I believe it is mostly in our hearts…and that we take the City and Country with us wherever we call home.

Frannie’s Home County:

Green County, KY
Population: 11,588

Green County’s rich and multi-layered heritage is a compelling reason to visit Green County. From a time when Green County was part of the western frontier and the Long Hunters camped here, through the next century when Green County produced Mentor Graham, the only formal teacher of Abraham Lincoln, and on into current times, Green County has much to offer. A very special part of Green County’s appeal is the many sites of historical interest, including the Oldest Courthouse West of the Allegheny Mountains.

The Green County Historical Society sponsors an annual Heritage Festival each October, when we celebrate all aspects of our rich history by offering living history exhibits, pioneer music, and traders demonstrating heritage skills. Unique features such as a wooden plank, suspension foot-bridge connect the public square to the historic L & N Railroad Depot, and dozens of rock walls add to the warmth and character of our historic community