Kathrynzj from RevGals posted this Friday Five:

This Friday Five will post while I’m at the beach which for me is more than a vacation destination, it is a trip home. I have found it quite easy to wax nostalgic about the places I used to live (well, except for one) and have begun to wonder what it is I like about the place I’m living now? For instance I sure do love the beach, but this picture was taken about 30 minutes away from my house – not too shabby!

And so I ask you to please name five things you like about where you are living now… and as your bonus – 1 thing you don’t like.

1. Our yard. There’s lots of flowers and critters. Squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, deer (who eat my flowers and shrubs), songbirds, hummingbirds, hawks, etc…  I even love the raccoons! (I have never caught them on film, but they leave behind their muddy handprints on my compost bin after their midnight raids.)

2. The intellectual fodder. I can get a newspaper from any zone in the political spectrum. During the last presidential election cycle we subscribed to both The Washington Times and The Washington Post. It was at times sad, and other times quite hilarious, to have the juxtaposition of commentary. And for our kids, quite illuminating.

3. Proximity to the mountains, the ocean, farmland and city. If I want a bushel of sweet corn or peaches, I can get them. If I need a healthy dose of culture, I can find it. If I just want to hear the ocean or watch the raptors spiral on the thermals over a cliff, it’s not too long a drive to get there.

4. Great minds: I could chose between four or five local universities for a doctoral program. Not that I am starting one soon, mind you. But to have that kind of access to thinkers, writers and readers is wonderful. Not to mention their libraries!!! (No – I don’t like to write papers, but I do like to read. It’s an occupational hazard.) Then there’s the think tanks and foundations, nonprofits and advocacy groups. If all I did was read their reports, I would have more than enough to digest and apply in my life and mission.

5. Proximity for our commutes: There’s no guarantee that we will be staying in our present locations for work, but we have easy access to a good network of public transportation (local commuter bus, Metro, MARC commuter train, etc.) It’s a huge advantage. Because…

BONUS: The one thing we DON’T like? That’s the traffic, the traffic, the traffic. Bleah.