My neighborhood is in a nice location, but the neighbors are not great. To the right up the street are the "constantly working on their cars at all hours of the night" neighbors. To the left are the "we're in a band, but we only know one riff" neighbors. The neighbors on either side of us are fine, but they don't have kids, and don't seem to understand them. There are some kids down the street, but they have absolutely no parental supervision whatsoever. I cannot tell you how many times I have almost run them over when they dart out into the street on their bikes. I don't mind them coming over, but there's no room in the house and they disregard all my rules outside. That, or they try to lure my kids out into the road, which according to them is a perfectly safe place to play!
If I had a bigger house and a few different neighbors, though, I'd really love where we live. Why? Let's start from smallest to biggest:
1. My House: It may be less than ideal, but it's the first house Ken and I bought together. Our kids were born here and have spent their whole lives there. I do hope we'll be able to move at some point, but it will be sad to leave all our memories behind.
2. The Neighborhood: We are within walking distance of our schools, jobs, church, and grocery store. Ken frequently walks to and from work. We have walk and biked to school and church, and even the grocery store if we're not buying much. My commute is so short, the van doesn't really heat up in the winter or cool off in the summer before I get where I'm going!
2. The City: Harrisonburg is a great city. It's not too big or too small. It's a college town, so that attracts a wide variety of cultural activities. We also have lots of kid friendly events and venues to explore.
3. The Valley: The Shenandoah Valley region is gorgeous. If you come through this area, you'll want to check out this list of things to do.
4: The State: Virginia is a beautiful state, plus it is so much history! My kids have been able to participate in field trips Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and the like. We're also close to the nation's capitol of Washington D. C. which has even more historically significant sites to visit.
5. The Coast: The East Coast is a good place to be. We are the dominant time zone when it comes to most TV viewing, so we are not usually subjected to time delays or spoilers. We've got lots of beaches to visit up and down the coast, and if you want to visit more states in less time, the East Coast is the place to be!
6: The Country: I don't know how to say this without privilege, but I'm thankful every day that I live in this country. We aren't a perfect country, by any means, but I think we have the potential to be amazing. I don't enjoy the constant fighting that seems to go on over different issues, but I do recognize the fact that there would be no fighting if we lived in a more dictatorial location where people are persecuted for speaking their minds.
7. The Western Hemisphere: This is one I hadn't thought of until I was stretching to fill out ten items, but I think the Western Hemisphere is pretty cool! Home to North and South America, as well as the Caribbean, we've got a lot to talk about over here!
8. The Northern Hemisphere: As much as I'd love to visit Antarctica to visit some penguins and Australia for all the reasons mentioned in this post, I really prefer living in the Northern Hemisphere. I don't think I could adjust to wearing parkas in June or celebrating Christmas in my bathing suit!
9: The planet: I don't think I'll hear any arguments about this one! The planet Earth is just the best planet you could live on, hands down! It's not too close to the sun where you;d get burnt to a crisp. The atmosphere consists of almost 95% breathable air, and the gravity is just perfect for keeping us grounded.
10: The Solar System: Again, like Earth, this solar system is just perfect for sustaining life. Sure the sun may explode in about 5 billion years, but until then: this is the place to be!
Do you live in a cool place? Tell me about it!
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I love how you broke this down and you are so right about living on the east coast. Don't get me wrong would love to visit the west coast, but east coast living is where it is at! :)
ReplyDeleteWe lived in VA for 8 years, but left when the girls were almost 4 and almost 2 (and I was 6 weeks preggo with A). Would be nice to be close to all the history and field trip opportunities now that they are older. Of course, with the Navy, VA is always an option in the future. :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, yep planet earth is the best! Although my kids want to try a stint on Mars, don't ask... Nothing is perfect, but there seems to be a lot of good going on there in your neighborhood too :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun way to look at where you live. Honestly, I am not in a happy place right now with where I live and haven't been for a long time.
ReplyDeleteYou don't really want to move to a different neighborhood anyway, though, do you?
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I love the way you wnet from small to big. We had to move from our first homw for hubby's job when my middle child was just an infant. We would have outgrown it by now anyway, but it was hard to leave! And, Yay for the East Coast!
ReplyDeleteIt is very nice to walk to school, and I could walk to work if I wanted too, although it would be hard in the winter because not every one shovels their sidewalks. But I'd also love to be able to walk to church! We live about 20 minutes away.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Rabia! It is kind of nice being able to walk places...we actually have a Wal-mart & Target within walking distance, and a few places to eat, and the kids' grade school was also in walking distance. I do think that this universe is pretty awesome, too! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope the sun doesn't explode! The Shenandoah Valley is a dream of mine to visit. Someday I will!
ReplyDeleteWe had a middle apartment in SF and had young neighbors above and below us. We heard..everything they did.. if you catch my drift.
Then we had a condo in our town with great neighbors on either side.
And now we live completely in the woods. We do have neighbors but they're a bit far. I could streak around my yard and no one would see me!
I'm not sure what's best. The condo situation was great. Now coyotes are more our neighbors than humans.
If you head this way, please let me know. There are some amazing places for photographs and letting your kids run wild. Mostly those places overlap!
ReplyDeleteI love being able to walk to so many places. I just wish we actually did it more often!
ReplyDeleteWe don't do as much walking in the winter for the same reasons. We don't have a sidewalk to shovel, but our road rarely gets plowed.
ReplyDeletePart of me can't wait to move, but another part of me will miss this first house we've had together.
ReplyDeleteIf I could make a few changes to the house (without losing the investment) and change around a few neighbors, I'd gladly stay! I'd also need a place for the kids to ride their bikes without me packing up the van...
ReplyDeleteI've seen that in your writing. I hope you can make the best of the situation until you get the chance to change things. I can understand feeling stuck where you are. :(
ReplyDeleteEarth is the most amazing planet I've ever visited!! LOL
ReplyDeleteYep, we've got a few naval bases over there on the other side of the state...:)
ReplyDelete#EastCoast!! Do we have a hand signal?! LOL
ReplyDelete