Day One - Small Town Living in Seattle

It’s day one of our one-year lifestyle experiment dubbed “Small Town Living in the Big City.” Mary and I are taking a year to return to a simpler, saner, more meaningful life by reexamining our relationship to people, place, and how we spend our time.
 
What is small town living (STL)? Here is a first draft of my thoughts. It’s a work-in-progress. Our address says “Seattle” but our mindset has moved to a new small town (a 2-mile radius surrounding my home in North Seattle).
 
STL dilemma #1: This morning our dear friend Andy was going to take a ‘polar bear’ plunge in the freezing waters of Elliot Bay. This is the first time he’d be doing such a thing in the year he will turn 60. Momentous!

• On the one hand, as part of STL I have committed to spending most of my time in my ‘small town.’ I have also committed to driving less, an activity that tends to bring more stress and complexity to my life (there are many more activities I prefer to city driving).
• On the other the other hand, this is our dear friend doing an important event in his life. I want to be there for my friends when they do momentous things like this. Andy is an important part of my friend network in Seattle. Since STL champions community, shouldn’t I favor attending this event?

 
Solution? I chose not to go. Since this was day 1 of STL, I chose to stay in my small town. If there are social repercussions, I’ll be able to blame STL, but I think similar dilemmas will continue to challenge me.
 
STL dilemma #2: Seattle is a coffee town—home of the first Starbucks, land of people who know and love coffee, and city that has a coffeehouse on almost every corner. As part of STL, I have chosen to frequent just ONE coffeehouse—a place called Armistice. Today is New Years Day (happy 2020!), and Armistice closed early, by the time I got there for my afternoon decaf latte.

• On the one hand, conceptually this is the ONE coffeehouse in my small town. It’s closed. So, I’m out of luck, right? Simple solution: go home and make do.
• On the other hand, there are many other coffeehouses in my small town. One of them surely must be open. I can make an exception this time, right?

 
Solution? There was another coffeehouse just down the street. I went there. STL is not about deprivation. It’s about creating connection with people and place by repeated contact. In this case, I wasn’t able to connect with my coffeehouse. Spending more time out in my small town made more sense—because it provided the possibility of connecting with other neighbors and residents of my small town.
 
In other news...

• Mary and I had a wonderful STL morning with our friend Jen, visiting us from Mexico. Nice and slow. Good conversation over good oatmeal.
• The three of us went for a walk in the wintery but beautiful Ravenna Park (in our small town!), pictured above.
• Lying in bed this morning, I concocted a name for my small town. Combining the names of a few neighborhoods within my small town (Green Lake, Fremont, Ravenna), the working name of my small town is Green Frevenna.

Our small town living is off to a great start! ~kh