Talking meme: Day 10
December 22: Tell me about living in the Boston area? for 
giglet
I'm a day behind, but since marycrawford is basically just pumping me for recs for her day, I don't feel too bad about it. :)
I've been here since April 26, 2008. So about five and a half years now. That tops my previous record for living in one place by about five months. My feet are genetically itchy - my family moved every couple of years, at first due to my dad's military service, and then mostly out of habit, I think. I always wanted to settle down, but as an adult, I found myself doing the same thing. I started to think about leaving Chicago about four years in, and it took me a year to decide and put the plan into action.
So for me to be living here now for this long, without having any urge to go anywhere else? That's pretty major for me.
And I don't! Have any urge to leave, that is. I like it here. I like my room mate, I like my house, I like my yard, I like my little township. I like our neighbors. I especially like our neighbor's kid, who does our yard work in the summer and a lot of our shoveling in the winter. I like helping
therienne pick out flowers for spring, and I like
arduinna coming over on Saturdays. I like visits from cesperanza and astolat and
the_shoshanna and dorinda from out of town, and having giddygeek, katie_m and bironic come over when we can make our schedules work out.
I did not like the job I brought with me from Chicago. Even though I was working from home that first year - which for me should have been living the dream - I couldn't stand my boss and I couldn't stand the travel. I also wasn't fond of being unemployed for a year and a half after I left that job - it was the most depressing free time I've ever spent.
But I like my current job a lot, recent developments in the higher echelons aside. I like the people I work with, I like the kind of work I'm doing. I like that I have a job where people rely on me to write stuff every day, and generally think what I write is pretty awesome. I like working for a non-profit.
And I just like where I live. It's a very smallish town north of Boston, very neighborhoody. The streets are tree-lined, and the branches of the trees meet in the middle over the roads, like driving through long, green, sun-lit tunnels during the summer. The downtown is adorable, filled with useful and tastefully-signed little shops. In fall, the trees turn fabulous colors for a couple of long, lovely weeks. If not for the fact that it snows just as much on the streets and sidewalks as it does on the lawns and rooftops, I'd think I was living on the set of the Gilmore Girls.
The drivers here are nuts. Right of way is optional here, and is taken or given at random. Half the time they will try to plow through you and splatter your blood across the roadways. The other half of the time, they will stop at an intersection where they don't have a stop sign, and wave you through YOUR stop sign, for no discernible reason. But it's not as bad as some places I've lived, and I've learned to read the subtle signs of crazy in another driver's eyes pretty well.
Xander loves it here. He has a girlfriend kitty and a little brother kitty, and lords it over them endlessly. He's a noble and beneficent Top Cat, demanding only that they wash him whenever he wants and cede to him whatever warm spots they may create in their daily laying about, whenever he wants them. He's happy to wash back, and always allows them cuddles when they ask nicely. He's actually kind of blossomed. He has a long, lean, serious-business summer-cat season, when he's in top form from running about the yard; and then he has a long, warm winter-cat season, where he becomes plush and sleek and basically only moves to find a better sleeping spot.
I like that I live in a place with great public transportation and big city access -- and where we have a thriving bunny population. I like that stopping to let flocks of geese and little goslings cross the road is a thing here. I like that you can sometimes see wild turkey's footing it down your street, and raccoons and coyotes in the yard are legit concerns.
I hate the snow, and I love the snow. I hate the mess it makes, and how hard it is to get around in it, and how ugly it gets after it's been around for a few days on the road sides. But I kind of enjoy shoveling, at least for the first hour or so, and I do love watching it come down.
I love the way the world looks after a heavy snow.
...though maybe not quite THIS heavy.
Basically, I'm pretty happy here, and I have no plans to leave any time soon. My itchy feet so far have no itches. :)
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giglet
I'm a day behind, but since marycrawford is basically just pumping me for recs for her day, I don't feel too bad about it. :)
I've been here since April 26, 2008. So about five and a half years now. That tops my previous record for living in one place by about five months. My feet are genetically itchy - my family moved every couple of years, at first due to my dad's military service, and then mostly out of habit, I think. I always wanted to settle down, but as an adult, I found myself doing the same thing. I started to think about leaving Chicago about four years in, and it took me a year to decide and put the plan into action.
So for me to be living here now for this long, without having any urge to go anywhere else? That's pretty major for me.
And I don't! Have any urge to leave, that is. I like it here. I like my room mate, I like my house, I like my yard, I like my little township. I like our neighbors. I especially like our neighbor's kid, who does our yard work in the summer and a lot of our shoveling in the winter. I like helping
therienne pick out flowers for spring, and I like
arduinna coming over on Saturdays. I like visits from cesperanza and astolat and
the_shoshanna and dorinda from out of town, and having giddygeek, katie_m and bironic come over when we can make our schedules work out.
I did not like the job I brought with me from Chicago. Even though I was working from home that first year - which for me should have been living the dream - I couldn't stand my boss and I couldn't stand the travel. I also wasn't fond of being unemployed for a year and a half after I left that job - it was the most depressing free time I've ever spent.
But I like my current job a lot, recent developments in the higher echelons aside. I like the people I work with, I like the kind of work I'm doing. I like that I have a job where people rely on me to write stuff every day, and generally think what I write is pretty awesome. I like working for a non-profit.
And I just like where I live. It's a very smallish town north of Boston, very neighborhoody. The streets are tree-lined, and the branches of the trees meet in the middle over the roads, like driving through long, green, sun-lit tunnels during the summer. The downtown is adorable, filled with useful and tastefully-signed little shops. In fall, the trees turn fabulous colors for a couple of long, lovely weeks. If not for the fact that it snows just as much on the streets and sidewalks as it does on the lawns and rooftops, I'd think I was living on the set of the Gilmore Girls.
The drivers here are nuts. Right of way is optional here, and is taken or given at random. Half the time they will try to plow through you and splatter your blood across the roadways. The other half of the time, they will stop at an intersection where they don't have a stop sign, and wave you through YOUR stop sign, for no discernible reason. But it's not as bad as some places I've lived, and I've learned to read the subtle signs of crazy in another driver's eyes pretty well.
Xander loves it here. He has a girlfriend kitty and a little brother kitty, and lords it over them endlessly. He's a noble and beneficent Top Cat, demanding only that they wash him whenever he wants and cede to him whatever warm spots they may create in their daily laying about, whenever he wants them. He's happy to wash back, and always allows them cuddles when they ask nicely. He's actually kind of blossomed. He has a long, lean, serious-business summer-cat season, when he's in top form from running about the yard; and then he has a long, warm winter-cat season, where he becomes plush and sleek and basically only moves to find a better sleeping spot.
I like that I live in a place with great public transportation and big city access -- and where we have a thriving bunny population. I like that stopping to let flocks of geese and little goslings cross the road is a thing here. I like that you can sometimes see wild turkey's footing it down your street, and raccoons and coyotes in the yard are legit concerns.
I hate the snow, and I love the snow. I hate the mess it makes, and how hard it is to get around in it, and how ugly it gets after it's been around for a few days on the road sides. But I kind of enjoy shoveling, at least for the first hour or so, and I do love watching it come down.
I love the way the world looks after a heavy snow.
...though maybe not quite THIS heavy.
Basically, I'm pretty happy here, and I have no plans to leave any time soon. My itchy feet so far have no itches. :)
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comments ]