I’m sitting on the outdoor patio at this place – the Cocoa Beanery in Hershey, just a few miles from Harrisburg – and the view here: I love it.
In front of me are gaping yellow daffodils, shrubs of various sizes and colors (light green, grass green, pale green encircled by paler green, green with a hint of red, green with a hint of wintergreen blue), and three flowering plants in various shades of purple – fuschia, lilac and royal – whose flowers’ names I do not know (I’ve never been too good at identifying plant life).
Beyond the Beanery’s landscaped terrace: wheat fields (or maybe it’s hay), rolling hills and a small, sloping mountain dense with trees and sparsely populated. Few cars have driven by, and bikers have passed through, too. It’s quiet and calm, and I like it.
There’s something to be said about being so close to the country, and it’s something I really like about living here. In Chicago you have to drive for an hour at least to escape the urban noise. You have to fight traffic and big-box suburban sprawl. You have to work hard for a bit of quietude. The journey itself is stressful, making the destination a bit less desirable.
I miss urban life (sometimes quite a lot), but I’m sure that one day when I return to a big city, I’ll miss being so close to such calm.
In other news:
- Congrats to my mom, whose photo was picked up by Flickr’s official blog. As of 1 p.m., she’d received about 100 Flickr friend requests (and many well-deserved, complimentary comments).
- Great friend/kickass writer Christina started a blog and has so far written about music, Starbucks and her dreams. Good stuff.
- Nylon Magazine has 22 free songs available for download. Artists include Phoenix, La Roux, Of Montreal, White Lies and Passion Pit. I downloaded it yesterday and have already listened to it three times through.
- This op-ed kinda scared me. Endocrine disruptors. As though we needed another ubiquitous chemical additive to fear.
- R.I.P. Michael Jackson. (The Filipino prisoners are back.)
