Back Roads, Charming Towns : Retirement, Relocation, Vacation : Back Roads, Charming Towns Blog : Vikki Grodner

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Working in the "big city" brings a cacophony of delights and challenges. As I work in my "out with the old, in with the new" transition mode -- both mentally and literally -- I become more acutely aware of what I will (and won't) miss when I finally am out of here.

Here is the list.

Will: The creative spirits that provide moments of beauty in the landscape of the B.C. with their music and artistry like the sublime Ebony Hillbillies (modified bluegrass) and the unnamed acoustical guitarist who play in the busy subway station.
Won't: The horrific whining and shrieking of the Saw Lady who (sort of) strums a crosscut saw like a violin in the same station, assaulting the senses.

Will: The kind faces and smiles of people on every street and in many nooks and crannies including the security guards at the office and the coffee shop on the corner where I go when I crave chai tea lattes with whipped topping in the morning.
Won't: The egos of people who think because they work in the B.C. that their self-appointed superiority gives them license to be arrogant and mean.

Will: The people who delight in the hustle and bustle of the B.C. like kids in a candy store.
Won't: The tourists who stop dead in their tracks, clogging the sidewalks when those of us who work/live here are just trying to get to where we are trying to get to.

Will: The rich ethnic quilt of faces that makes up the collective portrait that defines the B.C.
Won't: The discord that sometimes occurs as a result of petty minds when divergent ethic groups collide.

Will: The street vendors who sell charming, funny, colorful and inexpensive amusements, jewelry, shawls, and original paintings.
Won't: The vendors hocking comedy clubs, bad restaurants, bus tours, bogus sales and cheesy amusements aimed at tourists.

Will: Teenage boys sharing a set of IPod earphones on the subway, collaboratively jamming to the music.
Won't: People so wrapped up in their individual MP3 player experience that they shut out the world around them.

Will: The fashion sense that is prevalent and unique to the B.C. From high end designer clothes to funky get-ups that genuinely express the wearer's individual sense of style, the resources available in shops big and small and on street corners everywhere insure that  the options are endless for being a true fashionasta.
Won't: The sight of the random homeless person here/there wrapped in everything from cardboard to trash bags to keep warm on a cold autumn or winter evening.

Will: The gentle ride into the city on a train that appropriately eases the commute from the sleepy small town into the hustle-bustle of the B.C.
Won't: People on the trains and subways who don't realize that this setting isn't their personal phone booth (like last night, when everyone on the 6:05 Dover train was subjected to dueling conversations. We actually talked about taking down the e-mail address of the woman -- who stated it loudly enough for everyone to hear -- so we could let her know later how much of her conversation we were not interested in).

Will: The palatable energy and drive that is unique to the B.C. As a visitor, I craved it; as a regular, I have thrived on it.
Won't: The occasional stress of sometimes getting from point A to point B.

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