IF I’M NOT HERE, LOOK FOR ME IN…..
Posted by Karen on Nov 24 2007
Continuing with my NaBloPoMo question series, fiveberries in texas asks:
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I mean, except for Texas.
Well, apparently fiveberries doesn’t want me stalking her!
Hmmm, good question. Where would I live? I do like Ohio because of the definite change of seasons. And I’m relatively close to family. I know the state pretty well, so that’s always helpful in getting around. But Central Ohio has its downfalls. For one, we have a very long grey and cloudy season. October through April you can pretty much count on it being cloudy. Not just white, puffy, cumulous clouds. I’m talking thick, grey, stratus clouds. Mike and I think the official state cloud should be the stratus cloud.
It also doesn’t snow enough. It gets cold, but rarely snows enough to accumulate. It’s depressing when it’s 38 degrees and raining in December. And January. And February. And March. Here’s a shot of what my town looks like pretty much all winter:
Is it any wonder I have seasonal affective disorder?
Ok, this post is depressing me. Let me move on to answer the question. On a cruise we went to St. Lucia. That was an amazingly beautiful place! Sunny and warm year round. But alas, not by family, and on an island. That would bug me after awhile. Oh, and speaking of bugs, there are some nasty ones there! (Right, Mary?) Catching malaria isn’t on my list of “must-dos” before I turn 50, so I think I’ll pass on St. Lucia.
I’ve always wondered where the perfect place to live would be…..sunny, change of seasons, not too humid, close to family, close to Walt Disney World, no earthquakes, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no frigid temperatures, no disease, no crime, perfect schools, etc etc. But alas, I don’t think that place actually exists.
So, for lack of a better answer, I’ll pick Coronado, CA. Having recently been there, it’s a beautiful place. The weather is lovely year round. The sun shines a lot. There is an absolutely charming downtown area where everything you could need would be in walking distance. The people are friendly. The views are gorgeous.
I’m sure it has its downfalls….for one, it’s on the opposite side of the country as my family. It is dangerously close to the recent wildfires. I don’t think it’s immune from earthquakes, or crime. And the housing market….oh my goodness! A million dollars for a small house? Yikes!
So in conclusion, I don’t think there is any ONE place on the face of this earth that has the perfect conditions.
Either that or I’m too picky.
on 24 Nov 2007 at 11:22 am 1 ValleyGirl said …
Funny how that works, eh? I’ve sometimes wondered too, if there’a perfect place to live. It seems like it, but then I research it a little (for fun, I can’t imagine we’ll ever live further away from our families than we already do) and find out they have monster spiders, hurricanes, or other nasty stuff. I guess I’ll just have to be happy with snow and -40. Sigh. (Did you know -40 is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. I wouldn’t NEED to know that, except for I’m quite familiar with that temperature. Another sigh.)
on 24 Nov 2007 at 12:13 pm 2 Christy said …
I don’t know…if I could spend my days lounging by the pool bar like I did when I was in St. Lucia, I would GLADLY move there!
I always liked Arkansas. Some snow in the winter, but not enough to get that “terminally slushy” look. I have spent several Christmases playing outside with new toys and not even wearing a coat! In central and south AR, you really don’t get seasons, however. You get Cool, Hot, Steam, and Hell!
on 24 Nov 2007 at 3:02 pm 3 Mary said …
Ah yes the lovely bugs of St. Lucia. One sure did like me and I’m glad Karen and Dr. Mike were around or I would have freaked out!
I think if we were to move it would be to somewhere like Franklin, TN. We have family down there. It is a days drive to WDW (instead of the 2 days we have now) and doesn’t get the extreme winter we get up here but it still seems to get fall and spring.
on 24 Nov 2007 at 6:34 pm 4 fiveberries said …
Oh, no, I didn’t mean that I didn’t want you to come be my neighbor, quite the contrary! I just assumed that this was the ideal place to live and that it was just so obviously at the top of everyone’s list!! (um, sarcasm? a little?) You would totally be my favorite neighbor. If you were ever home.
My husband and I always talk about where we would live if we could live anywhere. Arkansas is near the top of our list, as is Mississippi. In fact, if it weren’t for the atrocious state of education where we’d want to live, we’d probably move tomorrow. Oh, and the inability to make any sort of living.
Yeah, we have a hard time finding that perfect spot, too. I guess we’ll just stick with Texas. The land of the flat. Terrain, I mean. ‘Cause Lord knows the ladies aren’t! (Can I say that here?)
on 24 Nov 2007 at 6:48 pm 5 Becka said …
This is why we moved away from NY!!! I could not stand the grey season, from September to April, even may!! It is so nice to have sun almost year round here in NC…except we now have a grought…:(
Oh well, can’t win em all!
on 25 Nov 2007 at 11:28 am 6 Steve said …
I’d have to agree that Coronado Island is the best place to live (if you can afford it). There is a small chance of natural disaster (earthquakes, fires, etc.), but it’s a very small chance. I love it in Coronado and have posted lots of videos and pictures of the island on my site. I’m sure glad I found this post and could add a comment.
Steve
on 26 Nov 2007 at 5:40 pm 7 Lindsay said …
I was just in St. Lucia in October and while it was gorgeous and the weather was lovely I can vouch for those bugs! They loved me! My family started calling me “Sweet Blood”. hee hee. Photo proof: http://media4.dropshots.com/photos/155857/20071019/220636.jpg
55 bites to be exact.
My honeymoon was in Bora Bora, now that is paradise if there is a heaven on earth for sure!
on 27 Nov 2007 at 1:05 am 8 Deb said …
Ohio sounds exactly like Michigan, except that we get more snow. Mostly lake effect. But the same gray skies and dreary-ness all winter long… I still love living here though - if we could hold winter down to about 2 weeks of the year it would be perfect though.
on 28 Nov 2007 at 11:35 am 9 FRAN said …
There was a time when I thought Virginia would be the all-around most wonderful place to live. I still love the idea. It’s beautiful near the mountains and closer to the ocean than Ohio. The weather must be nicer, too, I imagine. But it was never to be and I’ve learned that Ohio is not so bad if I take advantage of the sunny days. The fall colors are often brilliant, and spring is looked forward to and then appreciated when it does arrive. Going too far south just means being inside in the summer instead of the winter because of the heat. How about Hawaii???
on 09 Dec 2007 at 10:13 pm 10 Cecilia said …
I had to laugh about your “lack of snow” comment. And how deperssing it was. You know it depends on how you look at things. Be careful what you ask for.
I can honestly tell you that there is nothing scarier than driving at midnight, all alone, in a snow storm. In a very hilly area at that. I would be jumping for joy if I had a lack of snow. It would also be a joy not to see shapeless and crumpled hunks of metal (cars) on the sides of the road during those storms also.
Yes snow is very pretty when you don’t have to drive in it. I can remember telling my snow loving daughter this. And she never believed me. That is until I sent her to the snow belt for collge. LOL… No it wasn’t on purpose. But it is ironic isn’t it.
So what am I telling you? You are a very lucky person! Enjoy what you got! There is no perfect place to live. Just what we think is perfect until we move there.