Friday, August 13, 2004
Where I've been At
Crumbs of comments I've made have elicited queries as to how/why I'd make certain statements without ever having been there/here. So, here's a short itinerary of where I've been moving water. Let's face it, for the majority of us that's basically all we do in our lifetime.
Water is our king/queen/god. It asks us to take It in and then It asks us to move it to another locale. I hear. I obey.
My water carrying days started in Zagreb, Croatia, (although it was known as Yugoslavia at that time). I then served for about
11 years in the state of New Jersey. I think I've heard about all of the (usually) boring and lazy-thinking comments one can hear about Jersey..and most of those I heard in my first year or two while living there. While some have a smidgen, a mote of truth, the majority are generalizations made by people who've sat entranced in front of a tv instead of pioneering out there and actually experiencing the state. A shame, because it really offers a lot for just a little adventuring.
Next, my college days, well undergraduate years at least, were spent in the
beauty that is Quebec and Montreal. Aside from getting my undergrad degree @ McGill U., this is where the obsessions of music and book buying (and reading) took off. From the apartments I'd lived in, it was usually a short walk or subway ride to great venues for live music. Food was cheap and tasty. Blvd St. Laurent was a hop, skip, @ jump away (Yes, living in Montreal does make you hop and skip), so Greek, Polish, Jewish, Chinese, Thai, & French-Canadian meals were readily available. Plus! There were brasseries and taverns where you could always drop in on a Saturday for "Hockey Night in Canada", the nationally telecast religious ceremony. Who knows, sometimes a retired hockey player like Jean Belliveau or Maurice Richard would drop in. I worked there for a while as well, until the economy went south..as did I. 
A 4 year stint in the Chapel Hill area of NC followed my college days in Montreal.
Sandwiched in between Montreal & Chapel Hill was the obligatory 4 month backpacking in Europe escapades with short stays in
Iceland, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, and a very long stay in Greece, specifically some of the less touristy (at that time) islands. Somewhere over that time frame were vacation trips to Alaska, Lake of the Woods (Kenora, Ontario), Maine, cross-country to Wyoming (Grand Tetons & Yellowstone), and countless trips to Ohio.
I'm currently sequestered in Delaware, Home of tax-free shopping. Just like Jersey, there are your usual disparaging jokes. With age, I hope, comes tolerance and forgetfulness; the latter usually promotes the former.
If the jokes keep coming, I just hope the people don't come with them. Beach property prices are climbing steeply. Perhaps the put-downs of Delaware will reduce the stream of incoming residents.
So, that's the short of it. As with all travel and extended life in other places, you are affected in, at least, some small way. My blog spews definitely come tinted with the colors of my movements.
Crumbs of comments I've made have elicited queries as to how/why I'd make certain statements without ever having been there/here. So, here's a short itinerary of where I've been moving water. Let's face it, for the majority of us that's basically all we do in our lifetime.
Water is our king/queen/god. It asks us to take It in and then It asks us to move it to another locale. I hear. I obey.
My water carrying days started in Zagreb, Croatia, (although it was known as Yugoslavia at that time). I then served for about
11 years in the state of New Jersey. I think I've heard about all of the (usually) boring and lazy-thinking comments one can hear about Jersey..and most of those I heard in my first year or two while living there. While some have a smidgen, a mote of truth, the majority are generalizations made by people who've sat entranced in front of a tv instead of pioneering out there and actually experiencing the state. A shame, because it really offers a lot for just a little adventuring. Next, my college days, well undergraduate years at least, were spent in the
beauty that is Quebec and Montreal. Aside from getting my undergrad degree @ McGill U., this is where the obsessions of music and book buying (and reading) took off. From the apartments I'd lived in, it was usually a short walk or subway ride to great venues for live music. Food was cheap and tasty. Blvd St. Laurent was a hop, skip, @ jump away (Yes, living in Montreal does make you hop and skip), so Greek, Polish, Jewish, Chinese, Thai, & French-Canadian meals were readily available. Plus! There were brasseries and taverns where you could always drop in on a Saturday for "Hockey Night in Canada", the nationally telecast religious ceremony. Who knows, sometimes a retired hockey player like Jean Belliveau or Maurice Richard would drop in. I worked there for a while as well, until the economy went south..as did I. A 4 year stint in the Chapel Hill area of NC followed my college days in Montreal.
Sandwiched in between Montreal & Chapel Hill was the obligatory 4 month backpacking in Europe escapades with short stays in
Iceland, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, and a very long stay in Greece, specifically some of the less touristy (at that time) islands. Somewhere over that time frame were vacation trips to Alaska, Lake of the Woods (Kenora, Ontario), Maine, cross-country to Wyoming (Grand Tetons & Yellowstone), and countless trips to Ohio.I'm currently sequestered in Delaware, Home of tax-free shopping. Just like Jersey, there are your usual disparaging jokes. With age, I hope, comes tolerance and forgetfulness; the latter usually promotes the former.
If the jokes keep coming, I just hope the people don't come with them. Beach property prices are climbing steeply. Perhaps the put-downs of Delaware will reduce the stream of incoming residents.
So, that's the short of it. As with all travel and extended life in other places, you are affected in, at least, some small way. My blog spews definitely come tinted with the colors of my movements.
Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home Verging on Pertinence Just some more disposable thoughts clogging up the hinterlands
<< Home Verging on Pertinence Just some more disposable thoughts clogging up the hinterlands
