I absolutely loathe living where I do. And worst of all, I know I'd miss it if I were to move somewhere totally different. I'm almost right in the middle of the eastern U.S. megalopolis, just outside of Philadelphia.
In recent years graffiti and litter have become noticeably more prevalent as people have moved in from two adjacent cities. And one of the worst things people in my neighborhood do is put up cheap wooden palisade-type fences. After a few years they just look like rotting, weatherd boards in a slum. Especially when not maintained or mended properly. And apparently our house was built near a small creek that they filled in and redirected underground when they built the neighborhood 80 or so years ago. So our soil is sandy and very poor, and a "beautiful" garden is a fantasy.
But I'm about an hour from the ocean. And about an hour or so from the mountains. Any farms around here have long since been turned into neighborhoods. And the native foliage is rather spindly and scrubby looking. And when I remember, the bird migrations can be worth seeing. And there are plenty of different places to buy food from.
And when you get too far from Philly, the cheesesteaks just plain suck! And there's a great soft pretzel bakery about 7-10 minutes up the road, and nothing beats great pretzels that are still hot!
So I guess
this will remain my home for at least a little while. Even if "I want to see mountains again, Gandalf.
Mountains!"
