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Ariete, thanks for posting the pictures - I thought they were very interesting. One thing that surprised me is the vistas you can see from whatever viewpoint you took those shots from. Were those taken from a hillside, an apartment, an office building, what? You could see a very long way. For a cityscape, I can see how it would be impressive, especially at night with lights twinkling.
No problem. Those were taken on two hillsides, the spring ones near the centre and the summer ones from a hill in the outskirts overlooking the University grounds and some suburbs.
Well, night shots, I'd love to take them, but my camera really doesn't have the power to get anything good. But if you have good equipment, you can get some nice ones, like:
Mornings are my favorite time, no matter where I live. When I worked full time, I would get up at 5 am so that I had that little bit of quiet morning peacefulness before the craziness of the day. I love to go outside in the morning and listen to the world wake up. Everything is cooler, more lush, more fresh at that time of day.
When I lived in Germany, one thing that was very different was that the summer days were SO LONG and the winter days were SO SHORT. I loved those long summer evenings and sitting outside at an outdoor cafe, or walking around a park, at 10 pm in the daylight! The downside though was the dark, dreary winter. The overcast, wet, dripping cold winter is something that I don't much care for - in either Oregon, Washington state, or much of central Europe and the UK. Of course, that being said, I just dealt with it while I was there and learned to bundle up and make the most of each day anyway. But for instance, my daughter living in England just never could get her head around getting out in rain and cold, so the long dreary winters really got to her, much moreso than they "got to me" living in Germany. I kept telling her, "You just have to put on your boots and scarf and get out there and do things," but she's always been more affected by sunlight or the lack thereof than I have been (some people are just wired that way, I think).
That's not saying I don't have a strong preference for certain weather patterns and terrains. If I didn't care whether or not I lived close to family, I'd just pack up and move myself straight to my favorite town in the world - Yorktown, Virginia. I LOVE the four seasons there, the beautiful countryside, the close proximity to the ocean, the historical setting (my ancestors settled Yorktown way back in the 1600s), etc. But 150 years ago, my family moved from the midatlantic region to the ArkLaTex region (the "wild wild west" of those days) and so most of my family is now within a few hours' drive (at most) from my centrally located home in east Texas. Texas summers are HOT HOT HOT but they are also bright and sunny and we are literally surrounded by bodies of water - lakes, creeks, rivers, and pools are everywhere and are used liberally!
And east Texas winters really can hardly be beat, if you don't care for ice and snow. I LOVE our bright, sunny, crisp winter days - the cold nights that invite a warm fire in the fireplace, but those sunny days with that huge expanse of cool, blue sky and that brisk winter air. We get a couple of inches of snow several times a year and that's enough for me. Also, since our daylight hours don't fluctuate as much as they do in much of Europe, we enjoy daylight even in the wintertime from about 6:30 am till about 6 pm just about all winter. And I despise activities like putting on snow chains, shoveling snow, scraping ice off my windshield, etc. Worse yet is days and days in a row of cold rain - I'd rather deal with snow! At least snow is sort of interesting!
But I can certainly see the positives of winter in other areas, especially if one likes winter sports. And there's nothing quite like the Christmas season in Germany! (Wow, they do Christmas up right there!) I actually enjoyed the snowy winters we spent in Germany - but we were sort of "luckily placed" - where we lived in upper Bavaria we got a lot of "snow showers" but not a lot of accumulation. That blowing, swirling snow in those big flakes outside my windows really was picturesque - and it was very helpful to me that most of it blew away rather than stuck around! This southern gal likes two inches of snow, once or twice a year, melted by midafternoon - enough to take pictures and throw a few snowballs, and then I'm done!
No problem. Those were taken on two hillsides, the spring ones near the centre and the summer ones from a hill in the outskirts overlooking the University grounds and some suburbs.
Well, night shots, I'd love to take them, but my camera really doesn't have the power to get anything good. But if you have good equipment, you can get some nice ones, like:
Oh my gosh, I LOVE those meadow views especially! And the city views at night are lovely too. I really do need to put the Nordic countries on my bucket list! THANK YOU for sharing!
I didn't dislike those modern apartment buildings, but thought many were on the bland side. For all those buildings, they did a good job at squeezing in greenery. Perhaps easier to do with a small city.
The first one is nice, but all that brick on the ground appears a bit blank. And what is that metal thing sticking up in the middle of the plaza? Eww! 2nd view is pretty.
It's easy, as believe it or not, tree planting is part of the city plan for each street, and even on block level. They sometimes even say: "here we want a couple of ash trees and here some maple".
The Plaza is a preventer for fire spreading (we have a long sad history about them), and where I stood, that's actually a street. The metal post would be a streetlight and 'lane separator'. It looks indeed a bit out of place. On the right is the small park with those palm trees/bushes whatever I was ranting about earlier.
I said I like mornings best - here are a few shots I took as I wandered around my yard this morning checking to make sure my plants and lawn were being watered well by my new sprinkler system that I'm not familiar with yet:
Here's my view from my front porch - nothing vista-like but I think it's very pleasant:
Here's the cute little "lending library" (in front of the creek) across the street from my house. I really love having this here. Besides borrowing books myself, I love watching families and people of all ages walking up to it every day exchanging books. I think it's the coolest neighborhood amenity! But our small town (3000 people) is VERY into reading - the little library downtown is always packed with people and hosts a lot of reading activities. There are book clubs all over the place (I just joined one in fact). The thing I REALLY appreciate is that so many kids are actively involved in reading (vs video games or TV) - and their parents are encouraging it. But I digress.
Here's my house from the front - my sprinkler system is working!
Here's one of my favorite morning views though - the view from the sofa as I drink coffee and mess around online!
Here are some pictures of my area (I didn't take these so I'll just give you the links). Lots of people have misconceptions about east Texas - they think it's desert or flat or full of suburban sprawl. Actually, east Texas is largely rural, very green, and full of rolling hills, hardwood trees, rivers and lakes. All of these pictures were taken within a short distance from my house.
Nice! Wasn't Texas supposed to be like 90% desert...? Just kidding.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
Here's the cute little "lending library" (in front of the creek) across the street from my house. I really love having this here. Besides borrowing books myself, I love watching families and people of all ages walking up to it every day exchanging books. I think it's the coolest neighborhood amenity!
Wow, cool! How do the books hold up? Would never work here, as the humidity would get them sticky and moldy in an instant.
Yes, they buy the BS in movies, etc. It seems exotic. Anything different seems exotic.
I've heard the NL are boring anyway.
I've lived in a big variety of places - 4 states, and two other countries outside the US. I know where I feel at home. And I'm staying right where I am.
I don't know that people "buy the BS in movies, etc" but rather people generally enjoy being entertained and sometimes distracted from their everyday lives...much like the many participants here on the city-data forum, it may be an escape of sorts.
I've never heard the NL being described as boring and that has not been my experience either. But we are all different with different perspectives concerning life and this big world we live in, so I think that you are very, very fortunate that you have found a country to feel at home in. It also speaks volumes in terms of your general contentment that you plan on staying right where you are. I know that it certainly makes me happy...for you!
Ameriscot, sincerely, may you always have fire in your chimney (also known as 'long may your chimney smoke') or as they may say in Scotland...Lang may yer lum reek!
Hmm. I'd assume Texas would have more humidity problems.
Certainly not enough to cause books in a little case outside to mold. I could leave an open box of books outside on my porch for years and they wouldn't mold if they didn't get wet from rain. And I live in a pretty humid part of Texas (though Houston and down near the coast is more humid of course).
Right now, at 9 am, the humidity is 69 percent. It will probably drop to about 35 percent later in the day if it follows the usual pattern.
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