Town and Country

I often think about where my grandparents live in the north of England; in Yorkshire, to be more precise. Many years ago now, I used to spend my summers there, and let me tell you that those mental pictures of butterups, flowing streams and friendly sheep actually come to life in the little town of Hepworth. That area will forever stand for idyllic pastoral bliss for me.....and I'm a city girl.
Well, I am now. It's a funny thing, living in the suburbs and then coming into the city. They are like parallel universes, and although there are plenty of people who navigate between them on a daily basis, I find them very distinct, really. In the suburbs, you use your car a lot more I think, at least I did. This is simply because everything is more spaced out, and although you could be adventurous and bike somewhere, chances are the bike path doesn't go straight to the grocery store you're trekking to, and then what would you do with the bags anyway?? So you take your truck (let's be honest here) and go about once a week to load up with food for a fortnight. Here in the city (Minneapolis), I have picked up the habit of going to the grocery store almost daily, very often on foot, and yes, I carry my bag home. Now, lest you take me for a pretentious preachy tree-hugger (I do like some of them though, they're so cuddly), let me point out that I too, own a big car, and I used it to grocery shop and I still do....especially now that it's actually starting to feel like autumn around here.

It's just such a strange feeling to recognise that where you live affects your habits so much. I haven't changed all that much since I moved from Minnetonka to Uptown, at least not that fundamentally anyway. But I have very different habits and routines....oh, and people with lots of earring and tattoos don't scare me anymore (yes!).

So I guess what's happening is that I am realising why real estate is such a big deal. I look forward to learning more about it. I'll let you know.