The Dual Pull of City and Country: LGBTQ+ Life Across Landscapes

Reflections on two contrasting worlds

Photo by author

Windmills speckle the yellow hills, flailing their arms through the dusty air. As I drive by, I think of Stephen Case’s description of these marvels as an “imposition of the technological on the pastoral.”

Shaggy and yellow, the parched grass resembles the fur of a freshly blow-dried Polish Lowland Sheepdog. Meanwhile, laid-back cows congregate in a loose town hall circle, striking a curious balance between organization and ease.

I’m on my way to visit my girlfriend of the time, who lives in a rural town a little over two hours east. We’d been doing distance for several months, taking turns between her home in the country and mine in the urban San Francisco Bay Area.

Yards with horses or trampolines and porches with Trump signs are common sights. Inside the grocery store, every shopper seems to know each other.

While editing Medium stories at a downtown coffee shop, I catch sight of two roosters strutting on the sidewalk. They crow and cock-a-doodle-doo, unfazed by the urban buzz. Blackberry bushes line a creek where kids and dogs cool off on hot days.

In navigating these dual landscapes, I can’t help but reflect on how they shape mental health…