I went down to the local at 2:30 this afternoon, just in time for happy hour. A pint of robust porter for $7, cheesy bread, and a pleasant hour and a half of just sitting around in the neighborhood bar and grill. Assorted folk on the rail, a couple of tennis moms at a bar table, a gang of high school bros congregating around fries in a booth. It felt like the neighborhood spot, the place where folks come for everything. It doesn\u2019t hurt that it shares a parking lot with a Starbucks and a grocery store, all within walking distance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then, two miles away and easily bikeable, is the actual downtown. Alternately in another direction two miles away is the actual downtown of the next town over. There is a cozy village here, as materially accessible as Shepherd Market is from the Park Lane. And if I\u2019m willing to hop a Lyft, there\u2019s the Duke. Or Trials. Or O\u2019Flaherty\u2019s and Dr Funk, the latter of which is the closest thing to Mr Fogg\u2019s without going up to the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walkable is a big part of it. I need to be walking more. I need to be going to the gym again, doing something to get the kind of exercise I did on this trip. But I also need to embrace the cheeky pint. Yes, bird never flew on one wing, but instead of depending on an afternoon or evening, I need to be willing to pop out for an hour for just the one, the way I would (and did) in London or Amsterdam or elsewhere. And if I\u2019m going to do that, then I need to be downtown more, availing myself of the no less than four perfectly good options for \u201cjust the one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have my stuff. I have all the stuff I could need. I have books, podcasts, fresh earbuds at last. I even have some stuff I didn\u2019t have after the 2022 trip, like an indoor pub night space at home and a local church community to connect with other people. The lesson from this trip is that until they run a light rail down Foothill Expressway or install a canal next to the back patio at Fibbar Magee\u2019s, I have all the pieces I need to live locally the way I want to in Europe. The trick is just to do it. If a few bucks is the price of perfecting the illusion, find someplace else to skimp and spend that few bucks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break out the lightweight blazers, the cotton caps, and put the socks back in a drawer until November. Spring has sprung.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went down to the local at 2:30 this afternoon, just in time for happy hour. A pint of robust porter for $7, cheesy bread, and a pleasant hour and a half of just sitting around in the neighborhood bar and grill. Assorted folk on the rail, a couple of tennis moms at a bar … <\/p>\n