The Gatherin' Bench

Yesterday I took a break and strolled around a historic site near home. As I was leaving I encountered someone I knew, who introduced me to his nephew. I learned that his profession led him to Los Angeles. All appears promising for this guy.
I gathered in my conversation that they had been traveling around the area, up into the North Carolina mountains, and now were at this spot, just a couple of days before he had to fly back to L.A.
He commented that this place is so relaxing, and somehow he was invigorated by the atmosphere of this simple place -- a few log cabins and a water mill along a quiet stream. His uncle maintained that this guy was where he should be. After all, there's a real world out there, he said. It made me aware once again that there are various schools of thought on life.
I calmly replied to him that I would rather be relatively poor and living in a place such as this, rather than fighting my way through traffic to some cubicle where I would work until it was time to head back down the freeway to an exorbitantly expensive home or condo half an hour or more away.