Straying from words and grammar this week….and this may be a little disorganized and stream of consciousness.

Lots of Americans are thinking of where they would go if they left America. Many people have already left. Some are just changing states and not countries. 

If you could live anywhere, where would you live? City? Country? Suburbs? Rural? Island? Tropical climate? Four seasons? Beachfront? Highrise? Log cabin? Motor home? Europe? Mexico? Costa Rica? Or just where you are? 

Especially when they get older, most people want to live near family — near their grandchildren and children —  even if it is not in the ideal place. That is why I am in Florida. Being near family for me at this time must outweigh everything else. Before Florida, I lived in California for 26 years. I miss it because California is much more  comfortable for me than Florida. However I miss it, and my son is there, he is less reachable than my daughter, has no children at this point, and although I had more friends and acquaintances there than in Florida, I was often lonely there.  It may have been because I was younger. I never wanted to stay home. Now I am often happy to stay home, and I am a lot happier now.

I lived in Petaluma, California, a city with a good sized population that has the environment of a small town.  It has a cute downtown, with many great restaurants, although most of the antique shops of years ago are gone. Downtown is so cute that movies have been filmed there, including Peggy Sue Got Married and American Graffiti. It is near wine country, San Francisco, and is desirable and expensive. 

I miss my house, even though it was built in 1979 and needed major repairs aside from all the work I had done on it. I miss downtown. I miss my son. I miss feeling comfortable going out for coffee or lunch alone, which I do not feel comfortable at all doing here.  I miss my dog door and fenced in yard, even though the fence was falling down. Although I couldn’t walk downtown (I could but it was a longish walk), I could walk to a Starbucks. I could drive downtown in ten minutes, whereas now I cannot get anywhere in less than 40 minutes. I miss having a music scene and music friends and my music parties. I miss drivers who are not completely loony.

Obviously Florida is not my cup of tea. I do love the weather. But politically it is all wrong for me, and I keep to myself except for talking with a few people with sense. I think about where I might enjoy going….

There are other places in the United States I would move to. I haven’t been to every state, but I have been to Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State and DC, and Wyoming.

I could see living in Arizona, California, Massachusetts (where I was born and grew up), New Mexico, or New York. Part of me is a city person living in a high rise where I could walk to anything, a place like St. Pete, Florida. Another part of me is tired of the crowds and traffic here in Florida, and would love to live in a small town where I knew everyone and could easily walk downtown. There is even a small part of me that would like to live in the country and have no close neighbors. But I don’t know if I would like living alone in that environment.

Moving out of the United States is also appealing right now. I haven’t really traveled outside of the United States very much. I once drove over the line to Tijuana, Mexico, and went to a mall so that I could say I had been to Mexico. I have been to Montreal and to Western Canada. I have been to Paris and spent an afternoon in Amsterdam, And I have been to Nassau. And that’s it. I would love to visit many places, most of all Mexico, Costa Rica, Greece, Italy, Spain, Israel, Egypt, Poland, Japan, and Australia in particular. Maybe Portugal, where many people seem to be moving. I could see living in Mexico or Costa Rica….and France would be a dream. But then again, my family is small and it is here. 

We will see how things go. For now, I guess I am in Florida, in a place where there is too much development, too ,uch traffic, too few places of any quality to shop, and too many Republicans (sorry, but that is how I feel, and frankly I don’t feel the need to apologize). I live in a lovely community, but it is 55 and over, and while there are many people here younger than I, I do not like living in a 55 plus community. I wasn’t looking for that lifestyle, but I saw this particular villa and liked it and the price. I am not retired; I am not interested in pickleball and golf carts (unless I played golf, and there isn’t even a golf course in my community — just golf carts!). I have more in common with younger professional people. So I do think about even moving somewhere else close to where I am. But I cannot seem to find anyplace. I cannot even think of a place close enough to my daughter that has a downtown. But then I am spoiled, being 10 minutes down the road from her!

Where would you live?  Would you stay where you are if you could go anywhere??? Comment please!