Nice

I went to my sewing class for the first time in a month, after I'd only been twice, and one of the women told me, "You have really been missed;" I could've cried.

Things I Like About Living Here

If you almost cut someone off in traffic on accident, but wave and smile an apology, they wave and smile back, instead of calling you a "stupid bitch."

Things I Like About Living Here

It is beautiful in the fall.

Things I Like About Living Here

I don't have to drive that far to see cows.

Things I Like About Living Here

My patio. I think some day, when I have a sleeping bag, I might even sleep out here.

Things I (Don't?) Like About Living Here

The sun doesn't go down until 9 PM in the summer.

Bambi

It had been hours of giving presentations to 11 year olds, hoping they wouldn't get too bored, that they would absorb the information, even if these sorts of things seemed silly or stupid to them. The school was shiny, new, decked out with fancy lighting fixtures and desks not yet marred by discarded chewing gum or stray pen marks, but it was far from our city-skewed definition of civilization and there was no cell phone coverage.

"These kids are like home to me," I thought to myself as I tried not to laugh too hard at their insubordinate jokes. They were smart. Many of them really were paying attention.

After lunch and becoming a bit worried by the motto which (unwittingly?) was a play on the title of the infamous Birth of a Nation, I returned to our classroom to notice a family of deer grazing outside of the window. A buck (a 4 pointer, my colleagues guesstimated, barely old enough to copulate), a doe, and a fawn...later joined by another doe. They looked around often but ate easily, glancing at us without fear as we stared.

Things I Like About Living Here #3

My UPS guy looks like Liev Schreiber.

Things I Like About Living Here: #2

People are polite.

Things I Like About Living Here: #1

I can see into the distance.