First I add here, just for documentation purposes, (which I have found helpful in the past,) that here on day 8 of the virus, I am almost completely restored to what passes for normalcy nowadays. A home Covid test produced negative results, so it was just some nasty bug. Very nasty. There's also a chance it was a Covid variant, since the symptoms aligned perfectly, and home tests are subject to false negatives to a greater degree than "real" tests. Whatever.
Further, the grand "go car-less" experiment continues to work. We do have the one car, a nice 2013 sedan, so we're not talking radical lifestyle change here--just a bit of tweaking. I enjoy not owning a car. It fits in nicely with my not owning a house. Maybe one has to be old to feel it, but this ownership thing, this Feng Shui nightmare, is not only not what it's cracked up to be, but is a somewhat negative force.
The downtown move is working. Pictured, above, is our patio, or courtyard, if you will. It's no suburban paradise, true, but I really like it. Sitting here, I can look up and see four historic buildings, all art-deco, all very calming, somehow. At the time this picture was taken, we just underwent a severe wind event. I had just installed that basket with the vines draping off, and we're working on putting some lights there along the brick wall. Being able to step outside for some fresh air, look up at the sky, more than makes up for the lack of a dramatic downtown street view or vista. This is more practical and realistic, though I admit the photo ops are a little more scarce. A pair of peregrine falcons nest on the opposite wall of the building to the north (left) in this picture, so occasionally we will see one or both of them swooping around for a meal. I just read they are the fastest animals on earth, known to achieve speeds during flight in a dive, of over 240 miles per hour. That is seriously impressive.
More on the downtown thing: I have acquaintances who don't understand why I wanted to move downtown. I'm kind of done explaining it to them and they will probably never understand that once the initial adaptation is accomplished, this feels very neighborly and safe and far, far more interesting. I couldn't stand to be back at the old house, sitting there wondering what's going on in the world that I can't see. Kansas City is, of course, no New York, or Boston, or LA, but it's big enough, and I have no more intention of defending it in that regard than I have of explaining the allure to my aforementioned friends. Life's too short. I think you do have to be kind of old, at least, to fully understand how profound a statement that really is.
I will end this by reiterating just how good it feels to almost be over this goddam virus.
Sorry you've been sick. I too enjoyed the freedom of not owning property, but eventually I gave in because rents are spiraling insanely here. Now, I can afford to live in the condo I bought (with a friend) even after retirement. I'd love the freedom of being carless, but I'm in SoCal, and that's not possible. I do not like a rural environment, or even suburbia, if it is all tracts of homes and nothing going on. City life is too hectic for me, but an urban type of suburbia is perfect. That's pretty much what I have now, surrounded by cities like Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Irvine, etc. Lots to do! Lots of restaurants and movies. For museums though, we have to drive a while...
ReplyDeleteI'm much better today, thanks. It's been a slow recovery. Getting old, I guess. I think getting a booster in such close proximity to exposure to an unrelated virus had my immune system in an uproar.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is not strictly an "urban" environment--I mean your typical New Yorker would laugh--but it's close to what you say. Not the endless sea of subdivisions but a little diversity, and if you want to go roaring around in a pickup truck set five feet off the ground, you'll probably get more admiring glances out in the 'burbs.
I'm sure it's hazardous trying to make too many comparisons between SoCal and western Missouri. It sounds funny to say that downtown KC is a little more peaceful, especially if one is retired and able to keep a low profile on the weekends.
That's a huge patio. In the post where your building injected toxic spores into your system pictured something big enough for a couple chairs and the space, barely, to walk to them.
ReplyDeleteMy neighborhood was considered suburban 60 years ago and there's still nowhere worthwhile to walk to but it's nothing like the real suburbs further away from the city that horrify me so. I'd rather live in what we call Midtown, which was laid out in 1848 and has buildings whose build dates range across the last century and a half, and where there are bars and restaurants and shops that aren't all "trendy" and the vibe is pretty chill for a city; but I couldn't afford a run-down bungalow down there and am super glad I bought where I'm at. I mean I'm super glad I bought, no matter where at. And where at could be worse.
I hope you're feeling better post nasty virus that may or may not have been COVID!
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ReplyDeleteThanks, JYP. I am.