What do you like best about where you live?

[Doug_Tipple]

Speaking of why we like where we live, our older neighborhood is interesting in that every house is different in design, built in the first part of the 20th century. During my daily walks I always seem to notice some architectural detail on a house that I hadn't noticed before. We even have a ten-page quarterly newspapaer, free and published by our neighborhood association. It is interesting to read about the people who are living in our neighborhood, some new residents and others living here for a long time. Being close to water does make a neighborhood more attractive. The White River that runs through Indianapolis is within easy walking distance from our home, as well as a canal with ducks, geese, and a walking path beside the canal. Although we do have several small neighborhood grocery stores, I generally find myself driving to the larger stores for a better selection of produce at lower prices. I agree with Emily that having a "Trader Joe's" grocery store nearby is a plus.

[MTGuru]

So much richness here in Southern California, both natural and human.

But if I had to pick just one thing, I think it would be ... the light.

Anyone who has lived in these latitudes will know exactly what I mean.

From New York; lived and traveled in more northerly climes, all with charms. But the instant I first set foot in Southern California, I knew I was finally home.

[I.D.10-t]

The lutefisk.

Pickled herring, gravlax, and now that oily mackerel-like "Bluefin herring".

...but let's not oversell the city, or people will want to move here.

[Peter Duggan]

but let's not oversell the city, or people will want to move here.

Fish? Ugh!

[dwest]

The lutefisk.

Pickled herring, gravlax, and now that oily mackerel-like "Bluefin herring".

Oh! You are talking about Cisco! (Who was a friend of mine btw. He drank whiskey) Surprisingly our local market here in Virginia gets smoked cisco, white fish, and chub from the Great Lakes along with fresh walleye which I prepared last night. Down here they call it walleye-pike, I had to explain to the fish monger what it actually is as he thought it was Northern Pike.

[maki]

The lutefisk.

Pickled herring, gravlax, and now that oily mackerel-like "Bluefin herring".

...but let's not oversell the city, or people will want to move here.

I love oily fysh!
We also have Sanma, Saba, and Sprats from the Baltic.
Never had Bluefin herring, but it sounds good.
We got food, we got wine, and we got that golden light.

BTW, I'm not from here either.

[dwest]

Well, CLC is in Annapolis. So they's be local to Emmline.

Pygmy is good too. Laughing Loon. Shearwater. I've got a real fondness for Mac McCarthy's open deck canoes.

Feadoggie

We use to paddle with Chris Kulczycki years ago when he owned CLC. Now I get bike stuff from 'em at Velo Orange. I like Nick Schade's boat too. His Nymph canoe is a great little boat for smaller adults and kids.

[Feadoggie]

We use to paddle with Chris Kulczycki years ago when he owned CLC.

How neat is that? Chris got me started building small boats. I'd had enough of restoring bigger ones by that time. He's a bad influence. I didn't know about Velo-Orange though. So many good bike shops up this way.

Annapolis was a bit smaller and maybe more friendly then. But I'm thinking back to the days when Paul Reed Smith was just a small shop owner in town too. Things change.

And ditto on Nick Schade. How could I overlook him and Guillamot? Got his book and should commence work on a Great Auk sometime. The Nymph looks nice and somewhat similar to the McCarthy Wee Lassie. Thanks for the heads up.



Feadoggie

[mutepointe]

My wife comes from a white bread kind of family. The first time she saw my family share a jar of pickled herring, I thought she was going to hurl.

[Nanohedron]

I love oily fysh!

So do I, but it doesn't love me. Makes me burp ripe fishy smells, and I wonder what people think. So I have to do it quietly in hopes that people won't pin it on me. I also try to gauge the wind.

Needless to say I hold off on ordering the sanma until I just can't help myself any more.

My wife comes from a white bread kind of family. The first time she saw my family share a jar of pickled herring, I thought she was going to hurl.

We get that too, even here. I've known born Scandasotans who cannot stand pickled herring. I don't get that, but hey: all the more for me.

[Anyanka]

Walk out of the front door, and you can step into the beautiful Royal Forest of Dean. Walk out of the back of the house, and you're in rolling Herefordshire meadows. Wales is a 15 minute drive away and the Cotswolds a 30 minute drive in the opposite direction. Within an hour's drive, you can get North to Birmingham, or South to Bristol.

But, for the last few years, more importantly than all that, there has been a pair of ravens nesting in the trees on the ridge just above the house. They come and circle overhead at the end of the day when I'm in the garden, and now they have a youngster who comes and flies about with them too. Every now and then, they land on the drive and hop about in a lollopy sort of way. They are about the most beautiful birds I've ever seen.

Ben, I was so contented - living halfway between London and Brighton in a lovely old town, near open countryside, with lots of access to art and music.

But you have RAVENS. And you're a lot nearer Wales than I am... Can I come and live with you?

[Innocent Bystander]

Not that I'm trying to encourage you, or anything, but we have jackdaws in great numbers. They have a roosting site in an island in the middle of one of the gravel pits between Bourne End and Marlow. We also have Magpies, Red Kites, Yellowhammers and Wagtails. Now and they a Jay turns up. Last evening as I was checking the Support Tray at work I looked up to see a dozen or so Jackdaws taking position in the Larches opposite my window. They were on their way home as dusk was approaching, and they had stopped for a breather. It's little things like that that make your day.

[emmline]

Other people like the water. It's nice and all, but I don't have a boat.

Kayak. You definitely need a kayak, Emm.

I'll amend that: I actually have a 16' canoe. Some day I will take it out again. Right now, it's a safety issue with the person I'm in charge of.


There's no denying, the Chesapeake Bay is a wonderful geographic feature, and it's nice to be within a 2 hour drive of the ocean or mountains. I think I'm just a little cranky right now because of my aggravating dysthymic notion that I "belong" in a smaller college town, where housing's a little less pricy, and the milieu is a bit crunchier. Looking out the back window though, the grass is overgrown and green. And I have lots of birds. Why am I fussing?

If somebody finds a retirement community with an organic garden, maybe some goats, and a hippie vibe though, let me know. I'm moving there in 20 years.

[ancientfifer]

My wife comes from a white bread kind of family. The first time she saw my family share a jar of pickled herring, I thought she was going to hurl.

Mute's story reminds me of the story my northern city-girl Mom (rest her soul) told of meeting my southern dad's family (rest their souls) and my Grandad plopped down a bowl of 1/2 dozen raw oysters he just plucked and shucked out da crik. I think she really did hurl! Great first impressions all around, LOL!

[kokopelli]

There are a lot of things to love about where I live.
It's a half hour to the beach and a half hour to the mountains, which do get snow in the winter, and the desert isn't much farther. The weather is about as perfect as it gets just about all year round.
But the one thing I don't think I could give up if I moved would be the food. The only place with equal or better Mexican food is the other side of the border, and I've never been anywhere else where you can get a California burrito.