Does anyone else live in a place so great that's it like taking a Valium

When I come home it's like Ahhhhhh! I know Alabama get dissed a lot but it's a very beautiful state. I live on the side of a small mountain that is a foothill of the Appalachian Mountain Chain. It has a Land Trust trail (across the street from my apartment complex) and a State Park. I live in a one bedroom apartment but it's heaven to me because I got divorced and laid off all at the same time and had to live with my Parents for almost 2 years. Talking about feeling like you have an L for Loser tattooed on your forehead. Anyway, here's where I live which I struggled to come back to after Bush and 9/11 ruined my life for 18 months. Share stories.

http://www.montesanoapartments.com/index.html

http://www.alapark.com/parks/park.cfm?parkid=6

http://www.landtrust-hsv.org/

I'm tired of the South bashing on DU. We have some cool orgs here in the South and I wanted DU to be introduced.

Hey Y'all. Come on Down.

It's like being in heaven until you have to deal with the Republicans in charge and the locals who are very nice people but haven't figured out that the carpet bagging Republicans do nothing for them.

We built a house on 29 acres with nobody around. My husband and I are 12 min. away from work, and in the country with no neighbors to "bother" us. If we need to skip cutting the grass becasue we are too busy running the kids to activities, nobody complains. :)

I see you on the Alabama Forum don't I? My neighbor is from Florence.
She just moved here last year and her accent cracks me up.

I'd love to meet all of you. :hi:

That is some awesome country.

Last year I moved out the inner suburbs of D.C. to the near outer ones (where I grew up) but I moved to a neighborhood which had an association and lots of wild areas around. I bought a small condo in a pricey neighborhood, but quite charming it is. I live 30 miles south of Washington, D.C. and commute to Arlington, VA (close by and within shuttle distance of my D.C. clients) Because of the HOV (High occupancy vehicle) lanes in my area, I usually get to work within 55 minutes of my start.

Here is a deer I caught a picture of last fall.



I have assholes living in the condo above me, but it could be worse, and it is pretty here. And I did promise my older cat Lily she could go outside again.

We see more when the dogs are in the house and don't bark to scare them away. :)

I think I even saw a Panther one time. Definately, we have Skunks because my Golden Retriever had a bad encounter (I did at the same time) with one. He dived into leaves in Autumn and got one in his mouth. That was the last time he ever tried to play with a Skunk.

I don't have any on this computer that shows all the trees around us. This is actually my mom's old computer.




And this is our newest adoption from the "pound".

a state i hate living in, the space i live in is heaven. our space is love and grace and peace and beauty. we have huge trees all around. i can pretend i live anywhere, including washington state with my pine trees. multi level home, tons of windows every room, two huge floor to ceiling windows in two rooms. we love our space. the birds, the critters, surprisingly.

we are always so excited going away on a trip, and it always feels so good coming home.

First, it was green and lovely. Second, the radio was the most poisonous stuff I'd heard anywhere in the country. Third, there were no damn gas stations on the roads in the northern part of the state.

Here in NM I can see a 10,660 foot mountain out my kitchen window. It's big enough that no rich person can screw up my view. Summers here are hot but the humidity is very low and there are few bugs away from the river. The radio is much better here, too. Yes, there are poisonous bible stations and poisonous talk radio stations and a lot of Clear Channel McStations. But there are also college stations and a classical station and an AAR station and a couple of great Spanish stations.

If Alabama ever puts Roy Moore and all his hateful followers into a newly reopened state mental institution where they'll be well taken care of but they can't hurt anybody else, perhaps I'll develop an appreciation for that state.

Oh, and build some gas stations up north.

Honestly, I'd love to live in a "blue" state and we are working toward that, but I know I will NEVER have a house and the land that I have now. There is no way I'd be able to afford it. Our home is our escape from all the crazy things going on around us.

...which actually tells us more about you than it tells us about Alabama and the people that live here.

And if you couldn't find any gas stations, you must have some major vision problems.

Some have really good prices. Poisoners radio stations are all over the country. I've found here in Bama if you question people about why they are Repugs you can change their minds easily because they've never been exposed to the truth. Once you expose them to new experiences, they become enraged. I've converted many Alabamians.

You have to realize that so many people here are raised S. Baptist and get indoctrinated at an early age but many are quiet intelligent.
All you have to do is present them with some facts and they go "SHIT".

enjoy the heat and lack of pedestrian scale.

how much is gas in alabama?

It's cut into my lifestyle.

unlimited bus/train rides.

pretty cheep.

but they have that kind of infrastructure primarily in northern cities.

it was nearly 85 - 90 or so today and then a front blew in around 6 pm.

that nice cool northerly gust felt good on a crytalline blue sky day with high-altitude clouds and relatively low moisture in the air.

yeah.

...and I seriously wouldn't consider living anywhere else unless it was the Appalachian area of Virginia where my ancestors lived.

Beautiful countryside, and contrary to popular belief, very nice people.

We take our children to skate in Hsv. and Decatur all the time. As a matter of fact, my son plays hockey. Yeah, I married a yankee!

to have our farm certified as a wildife habitat. I am waiting for my kewl sign.
My husband is out of town for a seminar this week, but I just had to send him a lengthy email this morning about the two Redtail Hawk babies from the nest we had observed recently, came and hung out in my big flower garden today. They were smaller, with darker feathers than the adults, and they acted like flying was still a new experience. They were hopping along on the manzanita fence. Then one flew off, and the other one hopped down on the ground, looked like he was checking gopher holes. Then he got real interested in the rotating sprinkler in the middle garden, and walked over to take a closer look. I guess he didn't like getting wet, because he flew up on the garage roof. When I went back to look again, both babies were sitting side by side on the manzanita fence again, looking
around expectantly. All the sudden--swoosh--mom flies in low over them, and says come on kids, let's go home. And off they went. It just puts this big goofy grin on my face.
We have an amazing variety of birds and other wildlife here in the mountains. As long as the ditzy neighbors down the road leave us alone, I don't ever feel the need to take a vacation again. We have two national parks right up the road. Oh--and I'm now getting lettuce, zukes, snap peas, and green beans out of my garden.
Even though the local population is overwhelmingly Repuglican, we can get Pacifica Radio with Democracy Now loud and clear. And I only have to walk into another room to get to work.......

Growing lettuce in a pot on my VERANDA. Great Southern Word for Porch. :-)

Where I live it's more like having an IV drip of the antithesis of Valium. If I ever came into a pile of money I'd move out, and fast.

my town is pure living hell. That's what I call it, hell couldn't be any worse.

Lots of love and now go to sleep.

Good night.