January 20, 2010
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City Mouse
I’ve always been drawn to city living. I grew up in a big town that felt very small (I swear everyone knows everyone or at least has less than three degrees of separation between each other). The town is surrounded by foothills and farms and farms and more farms. Growing up there, I dreamed of escaping. I think at some point or another, most of us dream of escaping our hometowns. Many of us do but I can tell you that just about every time I go home, I run into someone I went to middle or high school with still (I’ve been graduated since 2003). My hometown is small like that.
First I wanted to move to New York City. I fell in love with that city during many family vacations. Who wouldn’t want to have about a million different Broadway shows and plays at their fingertips? That dream soon changed when I realized that never in a million years would I want to deal with those crowds all the time…
In college, I renewed my love for DC. It was close to my hometown but might as well have been a world away. In a lot of ways, this city is very unique. It’s the seat of our government and just about everywhere you turn, there’s some touch of government or history. I like that. I honestly get more excited about seeing politicians than I would if I saw a movie star. This may mean that I’m a big dork who can’t escape her Political Science roots but I digress… I love that I can walk on the same ground as so many people who came before me, famous and not famous. I love the unending sense of awe I feel when I look at the Capitol building or when I stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial seeing the same view that Martin Luther King Jr. saw during one of his most famous speeches. I love that I can go to a ton of free, truly world-class museums and then stop by the memorials on my way home. I love the protesters and protests that seem to find themselves here. This city is truly one where it’s fun to walk around with no real agenda or schedule. This is a good place to wander. There is so much here that I have right at my fingertips.
I currently do not live within the district lines but the Architect and I are talking more and more about trying city living for a little while after I graduate. I’m excited about the prospect.
So what are you? A city mouse or a country mouse?
Post inspired by featured_grownups. Go visit!
Comments (22)
Well done my friend I love this posting
. I too whenever I have gone to historical places / districts have wondered about the people who lived there before.About your question I guess I am a city mouse as I grew up in a city but it was on the outskirts of the city .
I’m both if that’s possible. Having lived in both I need the downtime of the country in order to stay sane. Other times I need the hustle and bustle to feel energized. hehe I’m a conundrum!
I grew up in the country, but I love DC too. I love nature and enjoy small towns, especially with the old americana or old world downtown. What I love about DC is that it is not too big of a city. Hmm, maybe that makes me a village mouse.
Still, I love being inside the beltway and so close to downtown DC. That makes me a (small) city mouse.
I think I am more of a county mouse… but I absolutely love visiting city life!!! And DC for sure is just awesome. You know I was just there this past weekend and we had an awesome time. We’re going back down again in March and we’re planning a whole day before the conference starts so that we can check out the museums. It’s been way too long since I’ve been to DC. I absolutely loved seeing everything and I too was in awe. I agree with what you were saying about having no real agenda but getting so much out of it. And the feeling you get when you walk around…. all the people before you… all the history. It truly is a breathtaking place to behold.
Thanks for participating. You’re linked!
Nice! I am definitely a country mouse. Though I love to visit the city. I just go crazy living there.
City. I’ve never lived in one before. I just want to try it. See what I think of it.
I’m in Jerjonji’s camp and am a little bit of both. More I’m a travel mouse. Have bag with undies and toiletries and I’m good to go!
Country mouse. I grew up in the country and live in the city since moving out of my parents to attend university. I miss it. I miss being able to go outside and see the beautiful lanscape, being surrounded by nature. I miss the smell of cut grass and hay in summer. Oddly enough I do love cities by night and enjoy visiting cities. But I would go crazy living in a city all my life.
I would love to live in a city like Washington. I loved it whenever I went there.I am a total nut about history, museums, arts and theaters. Like you, I would rather meet a person who has made a difference in the life of people historically, than an actor from the silver screen.
Great post.
Washington sounds like a really nice place. I hope I get to visit it someday.
@American_woman_USA - Thank you!
@Celtic_Wandering - I understand that. I definitely like escaping back to the country every once in awhile.
@sombraluna - Yes! DC is definitely of manageable size. I don’t find it overwhelming at all! Thanks for stopping by. It’s always nice to see a fellow DC-er around here
@mynewlife1126 - There is so much to do here! It’s great.
@MooncatBlue - I do like escaping back to the country to visit. It truly is a breath of fresh air.
@TheModernBunny - You should!
@BoureeMusique - Hah, I could totally be a travel mouse as well.
@eve1684 - I do miss that sort of thing sometimes. I’m glad that I can still be in a place where I can drive for 1.5 hours and be in the middle of nowhere.
@ZSA_MD - Thank you!
@icepearlz - Hopefully you will!
City mouse here!!! I always felt claustrophobic growing up in my small town of 5,000 residents. I began telling my family at about 10 years old that I was moving away to a big city. I wanted to go to the city and be a writer and have a cute dog. Well, I’m a writer very close to a big city and I LOVE IT! I love the chaos, I love the traffic, the entertainment options, the history, the endless number of things to do. I love it! I adore that living here you can NEVER say you’re bored. Ever. There’s way too much to do. I’ve been here two years and there’s still so much more to see. I love this place and I have no intentions of going home any time soon.
We would love to be able to actually live inside the beltway but after searching around for months, looking at traffic in all areas (BRAC = avoid! avoid!) and realizing what we can afford right now we actually decided to go for the R es to n area. I like that it still feels a bit big and it has good access to the city. We’re going to be walking distance from the Town Center silver line so the property we’re buying for $240K-ish is going to skyrocket in the next decade. Who knows if we’ll stay out there or try closer to the city the next time we move…
(Also I split R es to n like that because this is my personal blog and I don’t want the evil local jerk blogger to find my personal blog via anything like Google and out it as being the personal thoughts of the local journalist. I try to avoid names and places.)
I like being close to the city, but not in it..I actually live kind of in the country but am 30 minutes from downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul..so I guess I am both!
I like both. I guess I’m an ambidextrous mouse.
@FillTheSpace - I’ve lived in this area for most of my life and there is still things that I haven’t seen here either. And on R., I love that area. I remember when pretty much only the town square was there and a lot of empty land. It’s amazing how much it has grown. The good thing about living someplace like that is that you are still just a stone’s throw away from DC!
@portiajules - @i_was_there_and_back_again - It’s nice to have a taste of both, I think!
I prefer the country but i think it’s interesting to live in a city, even though the one i live in is tiny by American standards. I would like to try living somewhere big like Vancouver just to see the difference. Have you ever lived in the country?
I don’t need to live IN the city, but I need a city with culture and cuisine and museums (preferably free like DC) within easy daytrip distance. Currently, I’m 3hrs from such a city and that’s too far. Steve doesn’t like cities, though he enjoys the visits to the museums on vacations. He hates traffic. One of my bucket list items was to live in a high rise apartment, so I’m glad I did that when Steve and I were dating. He’d never do it himself.
I’m a city mouse by location, but would love to be a country mouse.
@ViveFLIP - I’ve always wanted to go to Vancouver. I have sort of lived in the country. The town I grew up in felt very country like.
@BigToePeople - Hopefully when you guys move, you will be closer to a city!
I too love DC, the history and everything about it.
@TheCheshireGrins - When we move to Albuquerque in a few weeks, the base will be IN the city. Yay me. But we’ll live on base, so Steve won’t have traffic congestion: yay him! In our 4mos temporary duty in North Carolina, we’ll be living on the beach, so who cares, lol. But we’ll have Wilmington fairly nearby. And then, after a year of training, we’ll be assigned somewhere more permanently. Out of the 5 options, only 1 of them is really remote (4hrs from the nearest city and 1.5 hours from the nearest little college town). So I’m hoping for one of the other 4