Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to come to terms with the things I like and dislike–doing so far from home and in a way that allows for detached analysis. Here is what I learned.
Heat: I am okay with that. I’ve been in 90+ degree weather while surrounded by a beautiful city with tons of stuff to do and that makes the heat less of an issue. It is not the same in AZ, and I put the focus on the heat there when I relly should not be doing that. It isn’t the heat’s fault. Which brings me to my next dislike.
Arizona: Sucks. That is all there is to that. Sure, I enjoy the allure of Friday night football if only because I get to watch my kids play. It was the same with Saturday Morning sports. It was always about watching the kids play. There isn’t much else to the place unless you want to drive miles and miles and miles to see some interesting terrain. Everything is too spread out to walk to, and the neighborhoods are not inviting in the least. I was born a city boy. Raised that way. A place like AZ is just a crappy suburb writ large.
Tennessee: If you’re going to be in a place where you cannot walk anywhere worth a damn, then be in a place where you feel like the space around you is worth walking through and you can get your mind fixed on the fact that you’re in the woods. TN does that for me. I like that. I like that I can step through the gates of our l’il farm and be there and feel good and not want to leave for days.
I’m leaving NYC out of this. I’m leaving other things out of this that I haven’t had appropriate consideration about. I know that place and lifestyle have been huge lately in my small world. I know that walking around is super important to me in terms of people watching (which I am finally getting to do and it is teaching me a lot about style, and people, and trends, and habits, etc.). I know that I want it to be a part of my daily existence. I also want beach access, for what it’s worth, because the sound of the ocean is needed, and the attitude of the beach I’ve come to love. These are the things, for now. More to come in the future.