Dozing polar bear, Indianapolis Zoo

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Where?

If you had no practical issues, financial, familial or otherwise, to worry about, where would you live?

I have this odd notion of finding an abandoned citrus farm in south central Florida with a beat up old house on it. I'd live in Montana from May to the end of October, and in the month of December. The rest of the time I'd spend on the orange farm, renovating the old beater house with green building materials and growing organic lemons, oranges, grapefruit and Key limes. Throw in a bunch of mango trees and a couple of avocado trees and we're good. (I don't even like avocados, but they're beautiful.)

I think that comes from the time I spent with my grandparents in south Florida as a kid after my parents split up. They had a huge lemon tree, a Key lime tree that eventually got uprooted by Hurricane Andrew, an avocado tree, a carambola tree, two prolific mango trees and a grapefruit tree that produced two grapefruits in its entire life. That is the deeply rooted symbol of abundance for me, etched into my old brain.

Of course, my citrus farm will be underwater in less than a hundred years.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I'm trying to combine my dream place and my realistic place.

I keep thinking if I can work from home, writing and art, then I could move to one of those Oregon costal cities. But on my walls of course would be the fantasy places I have traveled to like Mali, Tunis, Myanmar, Brugges to name a few fascinations.

Just look at this Mosque. All built out of mud.

http://www.danheller.com/djenne.htm

-Toots-

Anonymous said...

I Keep forgetting to ask you what is the underwater prognosis for Oregon? I know San Fran may go underwater due to Global warming but what about that whole coast?

-Toots-

KCB said...

In an ideal world? Canadian Rockies or Vancouver in the summer to get away from the nasty Texas heat.

A Lewis said...

I'm just going to toss out these places...without regard to placement. Becuase I like so many! Right where I'm at is my favorite but there are others: British Columbia, farmland in Ohio/Illinois/Indiana, mountains of Pennsylvania or the Atlantic, Europe. I'd like the best of quiet places near to the city life. I have to have both.

Anonymous said...

I think I would like to live in the South. Aside from the heat and humidity, Georgia feels so much like Oregon to me.

Life just seems so much more simple in the south, and the people seem so much nicer to me.

Trailhead said...

Wow, this has been interesting, everyone.

Toots, I don't have specific information on the underwater prognosis for Oregon, but I can say just from knowing the geography that it'll probably be less of a clusterfuck than Florida, given the many cliffs and such that line the coast. But in some places, I can definitely see problems. The more immediate question about the Oregon coast is when the next tsunami is coming. When, not if. My understanding is that tsunamis have occurred roughly on 300 year cycles. The last one was in 1700. So if you move there, get a house outside the tsunami hazard zone. :)

RedMo, the Canadian Rockies are one place I want to spend more time. I've spent a short time in Banff, and its time to go back.

Lewis: farmland in Ohio/Illinois/Indiana????? The southern parts of those states have some beautiful land, to be sure.

Tony, I think I remember us talking about that before. I lived in Atlanta briefly 11 years ago as you know. Fun city.

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

I'd live right here : ) but I'd also like a small apt. in Portland. Within walking distance of Powell's.

Wasteland Fan said...

Anywhere that I don't have to do my own yardwork!

Okay, seriously:
South Florida in January thru March. A few weeks in D.C. during cherry blossom season in March/April. Northern Michigan in May-June. Northwest Coastal areas July-August. Boston area September thru October.

I'm not sure what I'd do with November and December. It's been so long since I've dug out from the pile of work in which I usually find myself buried during those months that I'm not sure.

Maybe we could devote November and December to an annual Recovering Attorneys Convention?!?!

Trailhead said...

Jennifer, I thought of you when I wrote the post, because I knew you would be able to say you'd live exactly where you are. Very cool.

WF: Perhaps you could get a place adjacent to my south Florida citrus farm and we can start that commune with Amanda Sue we always talked about. And S.Fla. is lovely in Nov and Dec. too, so you're covered there.