" Goin' Where the Water Tastes Like Wine..."

One of the few people I talk to at work up and quit on me. Today was my first day at work without her and so I sat with some random people at lunch and of course got the question that I always get: "Why'd you move here?" (Now "here" must be said with disdain, like why would I leave the wonders of the big city to come live in "Green Acres." And I always defend it because as everyone knows, It's "the place for me." But I will not lie, there are pros and cons to the choice.

Things I love about small town life:
1. "Those trees, those trees, those.....trees, mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze" * I can't get enough of the trees. There are so many different kinds, ginko, cherry, tulip, oak, maple, flowering dogwood, basswood etc. I can chill in my backyard and pretend I'm little Laura Ingalls before they left the big woods * (All I need is an inflated pig bladder).

2. "Land, lots of land and the starry skies above" Sometimes when I am driving home from work, I just look around and marval and how damn big the world looks, in the city it doesn't look so horizontal, it's more vertical, and I hate heights.

3. My house. There is no way in hell I would have gotten a house (and property) like this in Chicago ( or the suburbs) for what we paid for our house. There is no way we would have been able to afford a house in Chicago.

4. Good public schools.

5. Being able to let my son go outside by himself. When we were in Chicago (Bridgeport) Boy couldn't even go in our backyard because there wasn't a fence and the kids on the block were hoods.

6. Everybody is nice. Real nice people say high and hold open doors. They help you fix things and sometimes the neighbors make you brownies. Employers give you benefits so you'll want to stay instead of taking everything away from you and keeping your self-esteem so low you feel like you couldn't leave if you wanted to.

7. The worst the traffic ever gets is when you come up on some farm equipment just when a no passing zone starts.

There's more I am just blanking

Here is what I miss about Chicago:

1. Museums, theater, culture.

2. Food. Foreign foods like Thai, Greek, and actual pizza. Bobaks Gobloki and potato pancakes. "Healthy Foods," "Pancho Pistoles,"and "Franco's" in Bridgeport, Strawberry Chicken Salad from the Walnut Room and Chicken Curry from 7 on State. Spring Rolls, Italian sausage with marinara, Italian beef with Au Ju. Uncommon fruit like kiwi, kumquats, star fruit. I want sandwiches called "Sloppy Joes" instead of "Indy Sandwiches" (They're the same thing but damn it call it a "Sloppy Joe" and actually I don't miss them, I just miss the right name, they have them all the time at my work.) I'll stop you get it.

3. My friends and family

4. People who are: African-American, Jewish, Hispanic, Asian, gay, brilliantly cynical, homeless and crazy, etc. In other words, I miss differences. There isn't too much difference here. You'll never be able to hear six different languages spoken on the same bus (especially because there are no buses) and that sucks.

Thanks for getting this far in my rant, I'll stop now.