More Dayton experiences

Russ and I fully admit that we are not city people. There are those who find the "hustle and bustle" of city life exciting. I prefer cows grazing in fields. In addition to disliking heavy traffic, standing in lines and feeling more like a number than a person, it has been disconcerting to have news items so close to home. I scanned a map from the newspaper but I couldn't get it to download onto the blogspot. It showed the locations of about a half dozen gang-related homicides that have occurred within the past month and a half or so. They were all within an uncomfortable proximity to our house. In fact, our house was directly under the "flag" that marked one of them. Russ and I go for walks every day that the weather and our schedule permits. Depending on the route we choose, we walk right by the balloons, teddy bears and other memorabilia tied to the pole of the basketball hoop where a teenaged boy was shot in broad daylight. We haven't really focused on fear. We go about our life and hope we can be a "light in the darkness" to encourage people to live as reasonable human beings. A couple of days ago, we met a friend at our bank which is several blocks from our house. He called us right after we had left the bank to tell us that the bank had been robbed as we were getting ready to drive away. One of the sweet female tellers that waited on him was in tears but trying to go ahead with business. What is it about cities that either attracts or evokes this kind of behavior? I know people get killed and banks get robbed in small towns, too. But I would be willing to bet that if someone did a study adding up enough country area to equal the population of a big city, the crime rate in the city would still be higher in comparison. I guess criminals like the greater variety of choices in a smaller area to commit their particular crime....? I still say, I am really looking forward to a government run by the Prince of Peace with all of the citizens agreed on obeying the laws, at least for the first thousand years. After that, we all get to choose again. I can't imagine wanting to live any way but in peace, harmony, and love. But I guess there are others who prefer the greed, lust, and competition.