What are the 'little' things that you love where you live?

I like that I can cycle to Poohsticks Bridge. Who wouldn’t like that?.

I like that around here there are a lot of pillow mounds. There are several locations where you can find them within a few miles of us. Here’s a satellite view of some (again, very near Pooh country).

j

PS: I also grew up in a land of painted houses. View1. View 2.

Hmm… seals and Mt. Rainier? are you near Ruston? Redondo? Surely you can’t see the mountain from Seattle! We’re in the Sumner valley with the mountain rising above and the slogan “Live Like the Mountain Is Out” on the side of a local coffee shop. I think it is the thing I will miss most when we move to Arizona in a couple of years. And the green, of course. I look forward to the baking joint-relieving heat and the year-round golf season, but I will certainly miss the pervasive verdancy we’ll leave behind!

We’re near Bremerton. West Sound. It’s nice and quiet here.

The thing I really love about DC is how engaged and informed people are. Small talk can turn in to substantive interesting conversations very quickly. I remember being in a cab with an Uzbek friend, talking in Russian, when the west African cab driver who studied in Moscow joined in. I love that kind of moment. That and the cherry blossoms in the spring.

I live 5 minutes’ walk away from one of the largest urban parks in Canada.

I live adjacent to a 2000 acre tract of private timber land that is open to the public for recreational use, except on the rare occasions when they’re harvesting timber. It’s crisscrossed with miles of woods roads. I often walk out there for an hour or two at a time without meeting another human being. It’s like living next to a park that almost nobody else knows exists.

Ah, yes… I went to HS in Port Orchard. I did not consider that perspective, but I have friends that live there that can see both Seattle and the mountain from their deck :slight_smile:

Growing up in the concrete jungle of suburban New Jersey, I’m thrilled to live in the foothills of Northern New Mexico now. There are wonderful mountains, with pines and sagebrush that really help me feel more connected with the land. I live on top of a mesa with really fantastic vistas at some points.

One of the better views I have, is of that of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains during the day (currently snowcapped) and a lovely view of Santa Fe at night. Beautiful wide valleys with alternating earth and brown, and fantastic topographical contours.

Tripler
I was very lucky to have gotten to this town. :smiley:

The breaded tenderloin sandwich is not widely known outside Indiana, but we love them here. A piece of pork tenderloin is pounded out to a size 2 or 3 times the size of a hamburger bun, coated with a seasoned breading, and deep fried. It’s served on a large burger bun, typically with lettuce, pickle slices, onion, and mayo.

Across the street in my view right now as I type is a paved bike trail. That trail leads to others that eventually connect with the American River Bike Trail, which leads all the way to Sacramento and beyond - 32+ miles of car-free, relatively flat cycling thru a vast green belt that splits the urban area down the middle. I can get on my bike from home and ride 60+ miles round-trip to Old Town and back with no cars. The parkway has restrooms and water fountains every few miles, and comes close to a number of restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops that make a nice break at whatever turn-around distance you want to do.

That sounds great. Something like that would be on my “What’s missing from where you live” list. We don’t have any bike trails where I live and the roads aren’t well suited either.

I feel fortunate to have lived in a bike-friendly city (Madison, WI). There are a number of old train tracks that have been converted to bike paths, and a combination of three of those would get me from home to work on the other side of town.

Though if I was running late, I could weave in and out of traffic on busy streets and everyone was polite about it.

The problem, as you can guess, is… well, it’s Wisconsin. I’d KILL to live somewhere I could (comfortably/safely) bike all year round.

Inspired by the OP’s butterflies, we have lightning bugs. They make for magical summer evenings.

Not really “little”, but I like being on the water (the Hudson River specifically). Plus everything is in walking distance. Plus I can hop on the ferry and be in Manhattan in 10 minutes (back when that was a thing).

I always found it odd that for a city made up of mostly islands and rivers, “being along the water” isn’t usually a consideration when looking for a place to live. Probably because it tends to put you in out of the way parts of the city.

I love that within 5 minutes I can be at any one of numerous inland lakes, wooded trails, creeks, and rivers.

Penguins.

A bit of a hijack - I was in the Cdn Navy and we do our basic naval officer training on the west coast. I did mine 30 some years ago and the Ruston stack was an absolute boon to us when we were doing navigation training and steaming through those waters. I believe the stack was destroyed several years ago was it not?

The night sky must be incredible too.

Reading about the OP’s butterflies made me think of one of the little appreciations I have for city life: hanging out on a nice summer evening and not being set upon by mosquitos or other flying things. Also how I enjoy walking around at night. Not like I have vampire leanings but I like seeing the lights and the light mood of people going out for some fun. Can get kinda ugly after 10 or so though but I’m usually in by then.

Chirping Geckoes on the walls. Here they say “A house is not a home until it has geckoes”.

We have geckos here too, but they don’t chirrup…maybe we have to wait for mating season I guess!

We live (since 2012) in the small medieval city of Kampen (Netherlands), once a major member of the Hanseatic League and at that time the country’s most important city. Many old buildings have been preserved, and stepping out of our 17th century house (or our gallery 30 meters further) we are immediately in the heart of it. It never ceases to please and amaze me.