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a railroad track would be nice perhaps some rundown buildings
and i'm particularly interested in the people, i guess they make up a lot of the feeling, hopefully they could be very laidback and unpretentious, loving people who appreciate silence, awkwardness, and darkness and odd and deep conversation
someone needs to tell me if my criteria is getting too much now
Hi bobobo262626,
Thank you for your posts of November 23rd, clarifying and refining your description. This thread somehow becomes more intriguing to me, each time I read one of your posts. I'm getting the impression, especially from the quoted post above, that you may be some kind of artist, searching for an atmosphere which will act as a muse for your creative energies.
As I'd mentioned in my earlier post, I believe places matching your description are everywhere and yet, at the same time, unattainable in their entirety. That is, I don't believe you'll find all the qualities you list in any one place at any given moment in time. Our society has changed dramatically over the years and the places mostly left behind by those changes are, in a way, also the most profoundly affected. The results are sometimes extreme in conditions and attitudes and not necessarily conducive to the positive characteristics you mention but, on the other hand, sometimes ideal for communications of a more vitally substantive nature that you mention above.
I have partially fond memories of such places but on the rare occasion that I might reminisce about it with a contemporary, I am usually struck by the sharp differences in our perceptions of the place. I've realized, more than once, that the identity or character of a place or its people had perhaps, as much to do with me and my perceptions as the place, itself. Also, in my experience, an entire community of unpretentious people is rare and maybe that is a good thing, because how would you recognize and appreciate them except by contrast with pretentious folk? Nature abhors a vacuum and where one condition exists in its purest form, will insert the opposite in the interest of balance, I suppose.
When you say, "somewhere you can go on walks on empty roads and see the horizon", this leads me to believe that you don't want a lot of trees in your way, and yet, trees assist in and are a result of rain and the humidification of a place that you also mentioned as being desirable. You mention friendliness of the people but not on a superficial level. This was leading me toward a possible recommendation and then, you mentioned bookstores and they aren't among the most common type of business, dusty or not, that you'll find in this particular region, so I'll end my post on a more general note.
You've done an amazing job of articulating what are some very hard to fully express criteria. I think at this point, it might be useful to really give some long, hard thought to the complete characteristics and atmosphere you might encounter in a place with the each of the criteria you desire. You have a good imagination, so this should come easily to you. Seeing the 'big picture' may help you narrow down which of your criteria are most important. Actually, visiting some places you've been able to identify as matching most of your criteria would be even better, though I would strongly urge that you reconsider your plan to hitchhike, as it's not what it used to be.
Perhaps Clyde, Weedsport, Port Byron, Newark and Lyons in NY.
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