Writer's Block: Coast Range

[fajrdrako]

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Ocean. Unquestionably: I've always wished I could live on or near an ocean. The only thing I don't like about Ottawa is its lack of an ocean.

Mountains, I'm pretty much indifferent to. Comparatively speaking.

Comments

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

I grew up in the mountains, I now live a five-minute walk from the shore. I dream of having both. If I have to move to the Scottish Isles to have it, then... I'll just have to make that sacrifice.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Scotland would be lovely; I could be happy, living in Scotland. Nova Scotia would be wonderful, too.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

Halifax is my favourite Canadian city.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Mine too! isn't it wonderful?

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Scotland is no better or worse than anywhere else in the modern Western world. The mountain-y bits – no way. My family spent a few generations getting out of them, because there is little variety in work opportunities or opportunities for intellectual development there. I am very glad that some of my ancestors were cleared down to the coast and then moved further south to the Clyde estuary. I should not have wished to live as a crofter's wife – subsistence agriculture and hellfire religion. The romanticisation of rural poverty angers me.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

By "Scotland" I was sort of thinking of the more picturesque islands (I loved Orkney) or the lowlands. Definitely not the mountainous bits. I was once persuaded by my friends to walk up the side of Ben Nevis. We'd barely started when we got stuck in a snowstorm. Just waiting for us! Never again, I swore.

Anyway, I figure part of the 'where would you like to live' fantasy is assuming a picture where one will have enough to eat and a roof over one's head and a decent job - otherwise there's no point, if we were ready to accept dire poverty, we really could live there. And living where I am is no real defense against poverty, either. Scary things are happening to the employment rate in Canada. Rather like everywhere else.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's worth living anywhere outside of a decent-sized town/moderate-sized city. The rural idyll has always struck me as a nightmare.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't really want to live in a rural area - not even a suburb. Which is why I tend to say "Halifax" for Nova Scotia, since it fits my criteria - university facilities and a good library, theatre, and an ocean. Not to mention a really good famous pastry shop I keep hearing about.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Mountains are a pain to cycle in. I like (relatively) flat land. Mountains in the distance are OK.

As for the ocean, not if it produces Prince-Rupert-style weather (wet all the time).

How about near a lake or river, instead, with a few rolling hills? And no chance of flooding or landslides?

Perhaps I just don't have the correct romantic temperament to appreciate this question?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Mountains are a pain to cycle in.

Yes, and I find them reasonably unpleasant to walk in: always up and down. And though the views are nice, I'm just a little uneasy with heights. So... mountains are best enjoyed in quick, brief trips, or from afar.

I like lakes and rivers - and the Ottawa River is just fine. But there's something about an ocean that thrills me.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

It's much easier to walk through mountains than to use any form of wheeled conveyance. I'd probably prefer to walk.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but I'd rather walk in terrain that isn't mostly vertical. Hills are fine.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

You know, we agree on so many of these, we must be long lost twins or something!! *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, they say everyone is related to everyone if you go back far enough. So maybe we are twins umpteen generations removed.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

OCEAN OCEAN OCEAN!

This is no surprise to anyone who knows me :D

Alas, I'm near NEITHER now.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It seems such a shame that there's so much of this continent that has neither ocean nor mountain anywhere in sight.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Heh. I have both [eg]. Sound 15 minutes, Real Ocean With Waves [tm] 2 hours drive, Paradise Visitor Center on Mt. Rainier, 1.5 hours drive.

Yeah, I know, I'm just way too smug about where I live. Sorry (well, not really [g]).

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Sigh ... I would like to live in a place like that.

Oddly enough, while I prefer both, I'd take mountains if I had to choose. There are times when I prefer the resulting solitude. [Call me hermit -- or his-mit if you desire the correct gender -- if you must.] Also, the mountains seem to have cleaner air and I can tolerate the cold and rain if need be.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Are mountains guarantees of solitude? That hasn't been the case with the mountains I've been to. I'd prefer the solitude of the ocean any time!

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Being a very place-oriented person, I gave up a lot in the rest of my life to be here, so I'm not just smug, but grateful.

If someone held me at gunpoint and forced me to make a choice, I would choose mountains as well. But I've lived where I had neither, and, believe me, having both is -- well, I don't have the words. Important is an extremely mild understatement.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Heh - you can be a smug as you want - I'm glad you like it!

I envy you the access to the ocean, not so much access to mountains.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I'd share if I could...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

This is what airplanes are for.

If ever I am able to afford to fly on one again.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

You'd be more than welcome. I have a spare bedroom, and you wouldn't be the first listee to sleep on my daybed [g].

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful invitation. I'd love to visit. Let's see if/when I can scrape together enough money for a trip to the west coast.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Keep me posted [g].

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Someone just gave me a lottery ticket as a present. Heh.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Neither. Why the hell would anyone want to live in the countryside of either kind? Give me access to a decent academic library and cafés any day! St Andrews had both, and the sea, but I could have done without the sea, especially in winter, with the wind and rain blowing in.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Academic libraries and cafés have priority, along with regular libraries, and theatres. But I'd like to have all that and an ocean.

Mind you, I've never lived by an ocean in wintertime. I suspect Cape Breton Island in January is difficult, though it's paradise on earth in August.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Depending the direction the wind was blowing, sometimes I had difficulty opening my front door on the East Scores. One night, the felt roof blew off someone's garage and crash-landed on my house roof. (I thought I was living in The Wizard of Oz!) My upstairs neighbours were in New Zealand at the time, and the factor had to see to getting tiles replaced.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

One night, the felt roof blew off someone's garage and crash-landed on my house roof. (I thought I was living in The Wizard of Oz!)

That must have been scary. Flying roofs are to be avoided!

Though we get extreme temperatures, we don't normally get extreme weather. A really windy day is a rare treat.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I was terrified when I heard this terrible 'thunk': I thought the roof upstairs had falled in!