Stories Collected While Living in France
My village
Mountains circle three-fourths of it-
A thousand-year-old church is at its center
The bells ring around the clock striking the hours.
This view is five minutes on foot from my door.
I have lived here longer than any other place…
over twenty years.
Tell me something about where you live?
PS
Nightbird's song and her message so powerful, eye-opening, and brave that she shared with grace.
I am glad you agreed and were moved as I was hearing her.
I live in Southeastern Massachusetts (40 miles or so south of Boston.) 1,000 years ago the Native Americans were here (snd little else.) It’s a small town, maybe 12,000 people, but it is 10 minutes from a larger city, Providence, R.I., and about an hour from Boston by car. I love my house, especially the front porch, the back deck, and the yard. We have loads of birds (I wake up to birdsongs every morning) and I hear owls at night. When there is a meteor shower expected, I watch from my back deck.
As a child I moved about 3-5 times per year on average around San Diego County in California, until I married and moved with my husband. We rented two different apartments until we purchased our first home in the Mojave Desert of California. We lived in three different houses there, a cumulative 42 years -all under the biggest sky full of the brightest stars and sprinkled generously with trees usually only found in a rare few places in the US and world, Joshua trees; odd insects, incredible boulders, jumping cholla, and white barren clay.
When my husband died suddenly my children encouraged me to move closer to them and the beaches where I grew up. I now have a small cottage on the tiniest of lots surrounded by larger homes in the middle of a very green city where the sky never gets quite dark at all, but the green so so gorgeous and there is fog most mornings! The temperature is moderate, and the neighborhood is diverse and very friendly. The streets are lined with palm trees, Jacarandas, Magnolias, sky high Bird of Paradise, and other trees I have not yet learned. It makes me happy to be nearer the ocean, albeit still being about 45 minutes away.
I am happiest when I am with my kids and grandkids, so anywhere they are feels like home, but I admit the idea of being able to grow flowers is so uplifting!
I love where you live.
I have lived in Portland longer than anywhere else. I love the seasons and the flowers. I love being able to drive to the beach if I need a beach walk. I love driving through the “gorge” and see gorgeous scenes of the river, mountains, waterfalls and trees.
I moved to British Columbia in Juky of 1996. I lived in Victoria until the end of 2007. In 2005 after giving up on dating, I met my love and future husband at a wedding on Saltspring Island. I looked at him with his long hair and birkenstocks and wondered why he’d be interested in me. Together we have continued to build our house and make a refuge for ourselves and anyone who cares to visit. It is our safe place and is naturally stunning. I have now lived here on Saltspring Island for almost 14 years and I’m still in love with this wonderful place and that wonderful man.
Bonjour à tous,
Yes, this song and her journey were very moving, making me appreciate our health even more.
Where do I live? I think my response is more to the question, where do I thrive? Sur la Côte d’Azur, namely Nice.
Last week marked 20 years since the purchase of our flat and this is the longest (by more than a few years) that we have lived anywhere; needless to say, I never want to leave (despite also having a home in the US).
Whether it be the trees that have a sweet scent — wafting through our open windows — beginning each summer, the light ring of the tram passing multiple times a day or, the clanking of chairs from the café across the street, Nice is home.
We walk along the Promenade des Anglais daily and the sea is simply endless entertainment.
Finally, after a few years, just recently, at the Université de la Côte d’Azur (grandma just couldn’t pick up the language any other way!) I can communicate and understand the constant chatter I hear from our front windows. Walking around I know what others are saying and often I catch myself eavesdropping on the bus.
My accent is awful but I can navigate complicated calls and understand the news so I feel that is progress. For anyone wanting to spend time in France please learn the language as it truly enriches the experience.
As always Corey, thank you for your blog and the opportunity to share my thoughts. Nice is not only where I live but where I thrive.
Bonne journée à tous,
Ella
Listening to the morning birdsong and recently, the billions of cicadas doing their 17 yr. mating calls, I love my neighborhood. The park out back that brings visitors to my yard every afternoon at 4pm for impromptu parties. The vegetable and flower gardens. The spring azaleas that are so blazing one needs sunglasses to view them and of course, the cherry trees. Even the deer that I night trick to not eat my seedlings, all is beauty. And one would not even know that I live only 12 miles from the white house.
I was raised overseas Venezuela & Libya as my Daddy was in the oil bidness(as we say in Texas). When I started college my parents bought a home in a resort community near a major airport(houston) and my Daddy continued to travel for work until he was 70. After I married we moved to the Dallas area and have only moved twice since we’ve been here. I love the city, however the shootings are troublesome. I live in an enclave of four streets (not gated but could be) in the heart of the city. Its fun we have alley cocktail parties, block parties, etc. great for walking the dogs and visiting with neighbors. I love your town Corey, I miss traveling, determined to visit you and Y in your village!
During my marriage, we moved every 5-8 years. New York City, the Washington DC area (twice!), Pittsburgh, and Knoxville TN. Now we are “retired” and live at the shore at Outer Banks NC. Every day is a different day at the ocean. I enjoy the sinter season with few tourists and wild weather. In the summer we welcome family for beach vacations. Hoping that covid will be under control soon so our family can visit.
Someday I will be back in France. Several years ago we spent 2 weeks in the Dordogne. I would love to return and explore more prehistoric areas.
My Chicago Neighborhood
Alleys circle three-fourths of it.
A hundred and fifty-year-old cemetery is nearby.
The recorded bells from the Greek church two blocks away ring during daylight hours.
I have no view from my door other than Wolfy’s hotdog stand. (Good hotdogs)
I have lived here for five years.
It could be worse.
We lived in Chicago when we were first married, but then moved to the suburbs. I now work in Chicago (in the “Loop”–so named for the elevated (“el”) tracks that make a loop around the heart of downtown) and I love the energy and diversity of Chicago. At the end of the day, though, I get on the 40 minute train ride to the suburbs. My town has about 16,000 people. It has over 30 playgrounds and I love the amount of walking and biking traffic. We also have two beaches on opposite sides of our town’s lake. We just love it here.
I live in the Sacramento Valley, very close to where you grew up. We are surrounded by farmland that includes rice, fruit and nut trees, amazing fresh produce, and many farm animals that are raised by our local youth. We are within 2-3 hours of the Pacific Ocean, Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada mountains, San Francisco, and the Napa/Sonoma wine country. It’s hot as Hades in the summer but very pleasant through most of the rest of the year. I’m a 4th generation Californian and love our state, minus the politics. My husband and I have lived in our home for 41 years and will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on July 3rd.
I live in the desert, north of Phoenix Arizona. Our area is a designated dark sky community which is perfect for a stargazer like me. While our temps are now in the 110s, our nights are warm and clear enough to be able to spot satellites, the Milky Way and amazing meteor showers.
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