hills, riff raff, grass.

These are some things about our new town that please me/us greatly (my new old town, JM's new town).

Whenever we walk to the end of our street and look to the left, THERE IS A MOUNTAIN. One of us inevitably starts (as in jumps in surprise) at the sight of the mountain, and hits the other one on the arm. The other one, upon turning to look, starts too. Our neighbors say that in the winter when the leaves fall, we will be able to see said mountain from our deck, with a sunrise and everything. Cuckoo. Not that I'm looking forward to winter, but at least there will be something nice when it does come.

Relatedly, my calves are always sore. I am cooking up a new theory which is this: the ratio of availability of delicious bread (lots) to hills (none) in my previous home town was such that living here, where that ratio is the obverse (no bread and lots of hills), is worth negative 4-7 pounds on my frame. I have previous data to support this theory (the last time I lived here, and our year in Pittsburgh), but we shall see. I do miss that bread from Mirabelle, though. Mah gahd that is delicious.

Also, this town not only has a city leaf-removal service that will COME AND SUCK THE LEAVES RIGHT OFF YOUR CURB rather than forcing you to bag the leaves (Pittsburgh has the same thing; it was divine), but it also has a service called "borough riff raff pickup." The riff raff pickup is separate from garbage--ahem, refuse--it happens on a separate day, and by request only. This means you can put just about anything on the curb and have it taken away without paying anything extra. Plus, come on, riff raff? That's awesome.

And finally, every day around 11 in the morning if the sun is out, the whippets will ask to go outside. Then they stretch and flop on the grass in the front yard and just lie there watching the activity on the street through their pleased/relaxed half-open eyes. Grass in the front yard! That is a novelty for all of us.

It must be said, though, that we really miss our friends in U.

Comments

[janna]

San Antonio had "big trash" pick-up. It happened a couple times a year, and they gave you a two-week window, inside of which, your big trash could be picked up at any time. So your street was always a mess those two weeks, with everyone's big trash waiting on the curb. But it was great, because if you could get it out there, they would take it away. I scheduled carpet removal for just before big trash pick-up.

But I have to say -- "riff-raff" is such a better word!

[dhawhee]

janna: big trash=kind of awesome.

[oratorical animal]

miss you, too