Ten Things in Suburban NY That Keep Me Sane (Or How Lori Got Her Groove Back When She Left L.A.)
1. Walking. Anywhere, everywhere. In all kinds of weather.
2. Caring about the weather. Knowing whether the weather matters, any given day. Related: actually having weather.
3. Deeply quiet nights.
4. Not having to use an alarm clock because the birds wake me up.
5. Living in a place where my daughter can walk down the street to a play-date by herself.
6. Living in a place where my daughter can play without having a “date” to play at all.
7. Living in a place where my daughter’s activities are no more than a five or ten minute drive away.
8. Connecting to a community where everything revolves around the public school calendar. Tapping into that connection through shared work.
9. Not using a cell phone. The service around here is terrible (yay!)
10. Not having to drive on the 405 anymore.
Ten Things in Suburbia That Drive Me (A Little) Crazy*
1. Leaf blowers. (See note*.)
2. Construction. (Ditto re: note*. Plus, I’ve been known to make a little construction noise myself from time to time.)
3. Cars that idle in front of school for thirty minutes on a pleasant mid-fifties day.
4. Compared to L.A., it’s hard to find good cheap eats. Except for pizza and other Italian. Good sushi is tough to come by at any price.
5. And on that note: many things seem to cost more and it’s not always clear you’re getting your money’s worth.
6. Ubiquity of lawn and garden chemicals.*
7. Maybe it’s all those years in California but I find the driving on NY roads to be appalling. Won’t say which states are on the plates but I think we all know who they are. Smiley face.
8. Sometimes it’s a little too “Mad Men” out here.
9. Humidity. Sigh.
10. Mosquitoes!
*Granted, some of these things can be found in both places.
Copyright 2012, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 