Rural Living Today and Yesterday

Written by Trina Machacek

From this Diamond Valley Girl’s perspective I sometimes don’t want to take the 20 mile drive to pick up my mail. I am content to not go anywhere for a week or more. I look out of my windows in any direction and see the most beautiful sights. From within spitting distance I see birds playing and bathing in the hollowed out end of a watermelon I have le under a dripping faucet making a natural birdbath. To looking 50-90 miles drinking in the view of the mountains that encircle this valley. It’s a blessing to call Nevada my home every day. As a writer, all of that makes my life magical. Knock on wood I have never had to reach far for inspiration.

I LOVE TO WRITE. I think those feelings come through in the words of my books and in my column, “Is is You?” in the 12-20 papers I am graced to be in weekly.

So it’s kind of funny when I hear people who live in a city talk of how awful it can be to have to go “clear across town” to get to a particular store. It’s a bit comical to hear that the trip would take a whole extra 15 minutes. I wouldn’t know how to act if everything in my world was within just a few blocks of my house aer living rurally for all of my years. But! Yes a short reach to a “but.” Here in Eureka County we kinda like having to travel at least 100 to 300 miles one way to run errands.

Actually traveling for things I want or need is fine with me because I use those trips as mini vacations. Whether I get it all done in one day or it’s an overnight trip it can be such fun. In Eureka we have some great places to eat, a great clinic with wonderful providers and other great services for sure. BUT! Going out of town is like having the best of both worlds. Oh and I never get tired of going to my favorite places out of town because I don’t go to them oen. I am a list maker. I never go anywhere without one or more lists stuffed in my pockets or the cubbies of my truck. Traveling was not always easy or even possible. Here is a story I was told by a woman who lived here years ago when the 120 miles to Elko,

Nevada for groceries was not as easy as it is today. Expecting company for dinner she planned for a good month for her guests. It was early spring, before anything could be picked from the new garden. A grocery run was needed. Of course there were parts for farm equipment, bagged sweet feed for the horses and all, but mostly to buy coveted fresh veggies.

Dinner was grilled steak, potatoes and a fine fresh salad. e company lived in “the city” and sadly the fact that the woman had traveled some 250 miles for the lettuce and salad fixings was lost on them. Now this is kinda icky but I can absolutely understand her thinking. e dinner came to an end and the woman cleared the table. is is the crux of living rurally. One of the salads was hardly touched so she—yes she rewashed the green onions, radishes and cherry tomatoes from the salad, put them back in the refrigerator and used them for another meal for her family. Rural living of times past? Maybe even today. You do what you can with what you have.

In Diamond Valley, Eureka and all of rural Nevada we still stop to check on people when a car is stopped along the roadside. We look people in the eye when we talk to each other. We know when the kid’s football, basketball, volleyball, track and all their games are played. Oh and when our kids go off to tournaments in busses excited parents line trucks and cars up on Main Street honking them on to victory. We ask our friends if they need anything picked up if we go out of town. We vote, we attend meetings and nearly all of us have been on some committee for the betterment of the county, the fair, the schools and our community.

Aer winters we are rewarded with amazing summers. You can see and hear a summer rain coming for miles, and the smell—oh the smell is heavenly. Spring can be frustrating because a late freeze can wipe out a garden just as it gets going.

But it’s evened out with Indian Summers of Fall that shower us with the true beautiful colors of Nevada. Long evenings around campfires under skies so clear you can nearly reach out and grab a handful of stars. Night or day, across my valley or up into the sky I can see forever. What is happening now you may ask? Well, I am beginning a new exciting adventure, I am embarking on creating, editing and publishing a new community newspaper!

It is called THE EUREKA COUNTY STAR, It will cover Eureka, Diamond Valley, Pine Valley, Crescent Valley and Beowawe. e first edition will be out in June 2023. Oh it’s going to be an amazing Journey, the enchanted rural life is not for everyone, but I am lovin it.

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, North of Eureka. Celebrating 10 years in 520+ stories in 2023 she writes her self syndicated weekly humor/lifestyle column “Is is You?” Her books, ITY BITS, ey Call Me Weener and Life Aer a Death are available in Eureka, on line wherever you buy books or buy signed copies direct from her on her website, www.trinaspinkslippers.com or email her at itybytrina@yahoo.com Really!

CONSTRUCTION:

• 8' Flat Ceiling Throughout

• 12" Eaves Hitch End Only

• Nominal Eaves Sides & Rear - All Except 28' & 40' Wides 6" Eaves Sides & Rear - 28' & 40' Wides Only

• 20# Roof Load

• 2x4 Exterior Walls

• 2x6 Floor Joists 16" On Center

• 3/12 Roof Pitch

• 5/8" Tongue & Groove Floor Decking

• R-22 Ceiling Insulation

• R-13 Wall Insulation

• R-11 Floor Insulation

EXTERIOR:

• 36" lnswing Steel Front Door

• Standard Front & Rear Porch Lights

• Architectural Shingles

• Cemplank Vertical Siding

• Cemplank Facia

• Cemplank Perforated Soffit

• 32" 9-Lite Rear Door

• Shutters Hitch & Front Door Side - Single Wides Only 4" Cemplank Window Trim Throughout

• Low "E" Dual Glaze Windows Throughout

Base Model

STOCK OPTIONS:

KITCHEN:

• Granite Counters with Single Eased Edge 4" Granite Backsplash

• Bank of Drawers

• Lined Overhead Kitchen Cabs

• Brushed Nickel Pullout Kitchen Faucet Cabinet with Doors Over Refrigerator Stainless Steel Undermount Sink

• Can Light Over Sink

• Crown Molding On O/H Cabs

• Can Light Centered in Kitchen

• MTN Delight MDF Cab Doors

APPLIANCES:

• Deluxe Gas Range

• 18 CF Frost-Free Refrigerator

• 30" Vented Range Hood with Light

INTERIOR:

• T&T Throughout with Rounded Corners

• 6-Panel Interior Doors

• White 2-1/4" Door Case Molding

• Brushed Nickel Lighting & Hardware Throughout Carpet in Closets Throughout

• Finish Off Under Base Cabinets Throughout

• 3" Baseboard Molding Throughout

• Toe Kick Heat Registers-Wet areas

• Wood Rod & Shelves Throughout

• Simply Stated Carpet

• #6 Rebond Carpet Pad

• Entry Linoleum

• Linoleum in Kitchen, Dining, Baths & Utility

• 2" Fauxwood Blinds

UTILITY:

• Gas-Forced Air Furnace

• Shutoff Valves Throughout

• Wire & Vent For Electric Dryer Wood Rod & Shelf

Over Washer/Dryer 30 Gal Electric Water Heater

• 100 AMP Electrical Service

• Exterior GFI Receptacle

• Carbon Monoxide & Smoke Detectors

LED Can Lights Throughout

BATHS:

• Granite Counters With Single Eased Edge

4" Granite Backsplash

• 1 PC Fiberglass Tub/Showers

• Brushed Nickel Faucets & Hardware

Medicine Cabinets

• Bank of Drawers Master Bath Undermount

Bath Sinks