When we were in St. Louis last weekend, three or four people asked me the same question: do you guys still like living in California? Yes, I always say, just as I've said without much thought for over three years now. When we first moved here, I always unreservedly said yes, because, well, that's what you're supposed to say right after you move to a new place. But now, frankly, because the honeymoon era of our life here is over, when someone asks me if I like living here I can give them a more nuanced answer...but usually I don't. So this week I've been thinking about this more, and I've come to confidently say the following:
Things I Like
1. Our friends and neighbors. Living in a faculty condominium commune took some adjustment, and it still annoys me that I feel like I must look reasonably decent to take the trash out (do you live with the constant knowledge that if you go outside to get the paper you may see a work colleague, or someone from your church, or your boss's boss?) Still, our neighborhood is comprised of incredibly warm, upstanding people who look after one another, and I think we mostly genuinely like each other (or at least I like them; if they dislike me they at least indulge me with their feigned friendliness). I think this is rare in today's world, and, yeah, the ocean view's not bad, either.
2. Groceries. I believe that there's a better selection of fresh, cheap produce and foods from around the world in our local grocery stores than any other place I've lived. I think that's why over the past three years I've gotten dangerously close to becoming an obnoxious, amateur foodie. It's easy when the pate is so cheap. It's also easy to find fresh avocados for about 10 cents a piece, and in case you didn't know it, you can put avocado on nearly anything to make it better.
3. My/our job(s). First off, my job isn't without its annoying politics. Very few are, I imagine. But push aside all those issues, at the end of the day, I still think I have one of the best jobs in the world. I also like that I walk to it (it's a 2-minute walk), and though that means I rarely get to listen to Morning Edition or All Things Considered, that I eat the vast majority of my lunches in my own home (usually in front of the Travel Channel) is a quirky blessing I doubt most people have.
4. Proximity to really nice places. All in all, I've come to realize that I don't actually love L.A. I can take it or leave it. I do, however, very much like Southern California, and whether it's the hour and fifteen minute trip to Santa Barbara or the hour-long trip to Ojai or the 2.5 hour trip to San Diego (or the 4.5 hour trip to Vegas!)...or the 25 minute trip to Santa Monica...there are a lot of nice places filled with interesting things that I only wish we had more time to explore.
5. The weather. Of course. Especially this time of year, when it only occasionally nudges 80.
Things I Don't Like
1. Our remote location. It's funny for me to say this, but I currently live in the smallest town I've ever lived in. Malibu is a small, isolated, remote town, and intentionally so. The nearest hospital is around 30 minutes away (not good for a hypochondriac!) We really only have one grocery store (what I would do for a Trader Joe's in Malibu - no, I'm serious, you have no idea), and I've often said that living in Malibu is like being knee-deep in a river but dying of thirst - there's so much to do in L.A., but it's such a hassle to fight traffic to get to it. When I'm in places like St. Louis or Nashville I marvel at how accessible everything is.
2. I don't live near the baseball stadium. I'm to a point in my life where I really think I'd like to have season tickets to the local MLB team, but Dodger Stadium might as well be in Phoenix on most weeknights. See point #1.
3. I can't walk to nearby restaurants. When we lived in Michigan we lived within a 5-minute walk of nearly 20 restaurants, and I don't think I fully appreciated that until now. A great Thai restaurant was directly across the street, as was a local diner. Wretched, acidic Starbucks was a 2-3 minute walk away, as was the local public library. The only food I can walk to from here is the Drescher Cafeteria, and it closes at 3PM...which says nothing of its qualitative merit.
4. So many family and friends are plane flights, not day's drives, away. That really cuts out the spontaneity of friendly visits. I remember that we waited out the Great Blackout of 2003 by driving 3 hours to a friend's place in South Bend, Indiana. If a similar thing happened here we would be spending the night with the critters at a motel in Blythe, California. I'd prefer South Bend, and if you've been to South Bend, you know that's really saying something.
5. The weather. Humans mark the rhythms of life by seasons, and when a place has no seasons, it dooms that society to perpetual adolescence.
The fact that the things I don't like are reasonably petty makes me realize that life here is good, but out-of-town trips are always nice for making you re-evaluate those sorts of things.
Recent Comments