Finksburg is a small town, so small that it doesn’t even have the “main street community” deal that Westminster and Sykesville have going on. If you live in Finksburg, you can probably relate to the five following things.

1. You have to drive to Westminster for everything.

Want to go to a mall? Westminster. Want some good Mexican food? Westminster. Walmart? Westminster. Everything, and I mean every single thing you could want, is in Westminster. From new clothes to most of the popular restaurants that aren’t New York J&P Pizza, Westminster is your go-to place. Sure, it’s only about twenty minutes away (depending on traffic of course), but that drive gets to be tiring when you’re making it for nearly every single errand you have to run or every time you want to go see a movie.

2. The Food Lion coming to the Finksburg Plaza was a blessing.

Before the Food Lion, groceries were bought in — you guessed it — Westminster, probably at the Weis or BJ’s. I remember when the Food Lion was coming in, someone actually called the radio station I was listening to talk about it as part of a segment where callers would talk about “simple pleasures” in life. I think that not having to drive 20 minutes to go grocery shopping is more than a simple pleasure when you have to make that drive for everything else.

3. It feels like there are more cows and horses than people.

Drive five minutes in any direction from my house and you are guaranteed to see at least one farm. When I was little, I thought that it was super cool that there were so many animals around. Now it’s just a simple fact of my life. Drive to work? Pass by some horses. Drive to my dad’s work? Pass by some cows. Drive to the community college? Pass by some horses. Drive to a friend’s house? Pass by many horses. Honestly, all of the farm animals tend to blur together after a while.

4. Your Pokémon Go experience is… lackluster.

All you catch are Rattatas, Weedles, and Pidgeys. Maybe you catch the occasional Eevee. If you’re lucky, you have a PokéStop within walking distance. The closest gym is either a church or the Finksburg branch of the public library. Somehow all of your friends are a higher level than you. You wish that you lived in a city, like Baltimore, where there’s a PokéStop every block. At least there’s ample space around to hatch all of the eggs you get from that one whole PokéStop.

5. The Gamber and Reese carnivals are the highlights of your summer.

The funnel cakes. The rides. The games. Spending all of your money trying to win a goldfish. Goofing off with friends. Watching people ride the mechanical bull that’s of course there because this is Carroll County. Nothing says “summer” like the carnival finally coming to town. Unfortunately, this summer didn’t feel like summer at all to me, and that’s because I was unable to make it to either of the carnivals. I didn’t realize how integral the carnivals were in my life until I was unable to go due to work.