Jul 19 2002
Love/hate: Country living
I’m off for a weekend in the country with my brother and sister, so no posting until I’m back. It’s not just the fact that I’m impatient with dial-up (though I am), but that it’s all about outside fun while I’m there in the summer. Swimming, playing with Jed (my brother’s wonder dog), hanging out in the hammock, stuff like that. In the meantime, here’s the love/hate of the week. Enjoy!
Love/hate for Friday, July 19, 2002
Country Living
Like Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor in Green Acres, John likes the country, and I like the city. John would like to sell our apartment and flee the madness of the city, but the thought of doing so fills me with horror.
For one thing, if we did, we could never, ever afford to move back here. And as for living in the country full-time…I like to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. I’m a city girl. I like the energy and excitement of the city, though of course it does have its annoyances. What doesn’t? San Francisco is big, but not too big, like London or New York. It’s blissfully tolerant and multi-cultural. The climate is perfect, as far as I’m concerned, rarely dipping below 40° or soaring above 80°. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Readers of this blog have undoubtedly noticed by now that I love this city as if it were a person, so why would I want to leave it, especially since the way back would be forever barred due to financial considerations?
I just can’t imagine living in such isolation, and with the accompanying hazards of country life. The way the outside refuses to stay outside, where it belongs, so you encounter unwelcome forms of animal life from insects on up to rats and raccoons in what should be the privacy of your home. Having to drive miles to go to the store. No theater, or art galleries, or museums, or home pizza delivery. In the case of where my brother and sister live, no garbage pick up, either. All too scary for a city girl! So I’ll enjoy my visits to the country, and breathe a sigh of relief when I cross the Golden Gate Bridge going south, and happily pay the $3 fee to enter the City (even if I have to write a check to do it, which I have. But that’s another story).