I love asking all manner of questions. Does that make me nosy? I think I’m just eternally curious. People are so different. Some folks think that everyone despite culture, religion, etc., is the same inside, want the same things deep down. I’ve lived all over the world, and I disagree. We don’t think alike. We don’t value the same things. Many of us love our families, long for a sense of community, but what that means is very individual or very much affected by our upbringing. And how that manifests in behaviors? Whew. Very, very different. You only have to watch the news to know that.

So, I live on a hilltop, my house surrounded by forest. I’m physically isolated (something I love). Foxes, raccoons (some of whom I count as cautious friends), deer, share the pond in my back “yard” with my horses. My daughter lives across the highway. If we stockpiled food and weapons, we’d be typical preppers, because we keep to ourselves mostly, trust only our family, for the most part. But we aren’t gun fanatics, don’t hunt, think most people should have real licenses to own weapons or have children or animals… We have acquaintances, but who do you really know? I know my closest family—quirks and mental disorders (Yeah, I’m not excluding myself! Writers are closet schizophrenics—the voices, you know). If one falls ill, we rally. When one pisses us off, we work through it rather than cut them out—because you have to or you’ll wind up with no one.

I do have a question in all of this ramble. And I hope I didn’t come across as morose, because I am very far from either. Most who know me think I’m weirdly happy most of the time (I use the word weird a lot, only because I recognize that quality in myself and embrace it 🙂 ).  So the question(s)…

Do you think people are the same at their core? Do I have it all wrong? Who are you closest to? Who do you know you can count on? What weirdness do you claim?