I now live in tropical Far North Queensland, on the coast that fringes the Great Barrier Reef. The climate is divine (in my humble opinion), the narrow coastal region flanked by rainforest to the west is just sweet to the eye.
But one of the little things I love so much is the extravaganza of butterflies up here! I can sit on my balcony and watch hundreds of them flit about amongst the palms and the various tropical trees. Big blue Ulysses butterflies, bright lemon Migrant butterflies, birdwings, they just never cease to amaze and entertain me.
What ‘little things’ captivate you where you live? They don’t have to be little like butterflies of course.
Sadly I don’t live in tropical Far North Queensland, currently living in dull, wintry South West England. But one thing I love about my city is the penchant for painting our houses in crazy colours - it adds a real droplet of joy into a grey day. It’s a very hilly city, which leads to lovely views down towards the harbour and all the pretty houses.
Oh I LIKE, LIKE a lot!! Almost reminds me of my youth when I lived in inner-urban Melbourne, which became home to lots of post-war migrants (especially Greek and Italian folk). They too liked to paint their terrace houses in vivid colours (to the chagrin of the incumbent Aussies who preferred drab grey and brown). But damn, the ‘wog’ houses were pretty!!
I painted my house a vivid jade green last year to keep in with the trend, it’s a great way to get to know the neighbours as everyone has very strong opinions.
We had a holiday in Cairns a couple of years ago and it was an epically fantastic place. Enthusiastically endorsed by the whole family.
That said, we had to dodge cyclone Iris as she meandered her way around the coral sea but overall, it is a wonderful place and I’d be back in a heartbeat.
My own humble hometown is less warm and less likely to kill me but I like the fact that one of the local pubs was built in the 15th century, my kid’s school is nearly 500 years old and that I can turn right at the end of my road and walk to the beach or left and be out in the countryside and see no-one for miles. I can catch a high-speed train and be in London in 90 minutes or be at the channel crossings in 20 minutes. Oh, and I saw a hare and a stoat and marsh harrier while out on my bike the other day. Simple pleasures.
The other side of the valley is made of of two Fourteeners (fourteen thousand foot peaks) The peaks are about a mile away as the crow flies. The view is quite great.
Also, we are the only full time resident on our dead end gravel/dirt road. There are only 4 houses with walking distance. Can’t see any of them from our house. It’s nice and quiet up here.
Similar situation here, but the two neighbors we have live here. If I win a billion dollar lottery, I’d purchase and raze the two homes. I can’t see them but I know they’re there.
We live about a mile or so away from the last remaining stone fruit orchard of Silicon Valley. They still raise the old heirloom peaches, nectarines, apricots, and cherries that this whole area used to be known for. Every summer I’m able to stuff on the best quality fruit of the season.
We’re planning to move to another state when we retire, and this is the biggest “little thing” I’m going to miss about the area.
It’s probably not a “little” thing but I see the sunrise on Lake Superior every morning on my way to work. The lake is beautiful in some way every day. There’s always something to see; big roiling, angry waves, ice chunks, sailboats, ore boats, calm, still water. It’s really beautiful.
Just before we moved from Boston in August I noticed that the oldest foundations and quite a few garden and retaining walls were made from local, and interesting, pudding stone.
Here in Cincinnati I quite enjoyed the invasive, but now ubiquitous wall lizards until it became to cold for them, and I love living in a fairly old house and walking the dog on a quiet alley with other old houses and more quite old walls. (I haven’t looked into the geology there though).
And now we’re moving again and I’ll have to find new things to love in a new state!
it was introduced to the area around 1950 by George Rau, a boy who was a member of the family who owned the Lazarus department store chain (now absorbed into Macy’s). After he returned from a family vacation to northern Italy, he released about 10 of the reptiles near his Cincinnati home.[21] This prolific lizard has reproduced exponentially; it continues to expand its distribution range annually, and has established itself so well in southwest Ohio, it is now considered a naturalized species by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and is protected under state law (it is illegal to harm, capture, or possess this animal without a proper licence)
Think you could sneak a bunch of lizards past TSA today?
Eh, there’s some neat little walks and restaurants around my town. Nothing super special. I do like getting an abundance of fireflies in the summer. Feels magical. Not super uncommon, but you don’t get that everywhere.
I like that I can go out my front door and be hiking in a redwood forest in less than 40 minutes. In the same amount of time I can be walking on the beach or on a near-wilderness trail in Henry Coe State Park.
Portland, OR. The Craftsman homes everywhere are such a welcome change from all the mid-century moderns and snout-houses in Anchorage. They really lend a small town atmosphere to neighborhoods. I also love the parks everywhere and the urban canopy.
This village has some beautiful well maintained, for the most part, four squares. The roofs have gables and valleys the front porches are all different. Walking distance to some good bars.
I like that we can see “the mountain” (i.e., Mt. Rainier) now and then. If we saw it every day, it might feel less impressive, but seeing it only on those rare cloudless days (this time of year) gives us a little treat.
I also love that we have seals and seal lions hanging out in front of our house. I get a kick out that.
Here in San Diego, we have Mt Cuyamaca. Nothing really special, just a “hill” of 6,000 feet, but it’s pretty, and in winter it sometimes gets a lovely powdered-sugar frosting of snow. My daily commute home from work offers me a sweet view of it, and I’ll never get tired of it. Also some really good hiking trails up yon.
