Saturday, November 17, 2007

Thanks, day seventeen

I think today I shall be thankful for my neighborhood. I live in a small house in a cute 1920s neighborhood. It may actually be the smallest house in the neighborhood. We moved here as newlyweds, wanting to make a small carbon footprint, live within our means, all that. Now that bubba is here and we have transformed into consumers--plastic! Yay!--we are busting out of our little bungalow and moving is a recurring topic of dinner conversation. I don't know that we could swing a bigger house in this neighborhood, and leaving makes me sad.

Living in a mild climate in a walkable neighborhood has made a large difference in my ability to be a sane new mother. Any time I wish, there is is a whole world right outside our door to help me not feel alone and to provide learning material for bub. Bus! Flower! Tree! Dog! Cat! Cat! Cat! A few things I appreciate about my neighborhood:

Sidewalks. The better for walking and strolling and (as you can see) cat stalking. There are a million cats in this neighborhood and I chase them all, needily looking for a cat snuggle. Some of them love it, others (like this one) run away because they are smart enough to know that I am a Crazy Cat Lady. But seriously. I love knowing that we can go for a walk and be reasonably safe.



Dis crazy chik evn tak pitcher uz mah eskaping butt
Ther goz nayburhud

So cute! My house doesn't look like this. My house was probably a servant's house for people who lived in the bigger houses. But I get to walk by them, and they are cute, and it makes me happy.


A park! Nice for the bubbas. Big kids playing soccer, swings, wading pool in summer. Love it.


Nice views too, that's the Space Needle there.


I took these photos on a recent afternoon when I was tired of being cooped up inside. I am lucky indeed.

9 comments:

Lotus (Sarcastic Mom) said...

Nice photos! Cute baby hiney. :-)

Would you mind sticking a button in your sidebar or in the post?

You can find the code for them at:
http://sarcasticmom.blogspot.com/2007/11/weekly-winners-sunday-meme.html

If you get there in there, I'll put you on the Weekly Winners Blogroll @ http://theweeklywinners.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

ruddygood said...

Love that little butt in the park...there is something about nappy bums that is so appealing, isn't there? *laughs*

Mrs. G. said...

Nora, I didn't realize how close we are. Let's get together sometime and have coffee.

Nice photos of your surrounding life.

Suzanne said...

A walkable neighborhood was an important criterion for my husband and me when we were looking for a house. I couldn't imagine living in one of those subdivisions that have no sidewalks.

Anonymous said...

Love your Weekly Winners!! Your guy is TOO. CUTE.

TwoSquareMeals said...

We used to live in a neighborhood like that, only closer to 1900's than 1920's. I miss having sidewalks and being able to walk to parks, the library, the market. Looks wonderful!

Melanie said...

Great little neighborhood. I love Seattle.

We, too, are bursting at the seams of our newlywed pad. I love this house, though, and I love being so close to parks and downtown and the river, and I just don't have the heart to leave.

Here's to living within your means.

Darla said...

You sound like you could live right next door. In fact the people who DO live right next door have a toddler.

We're a couple of the old established folks and stay because of "location, location, location" as the realtors say.

Most younger people simply say they can get twice as much house for half as much money if they move out to the suburbs. That's true, but you can't buy the neighborhood ambiance.

Darla

Anonymous said...

And blue Seattle skies in November to boot - doesn't get much better than that ; )