Today's post is brought to you by Indiana.
...I dream of Indiana. America's Heartland. If the middle of America is its heartbeat, then Los Angeles must be a heart attack. Living here in sunny SoCal can't be very healthy...
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| Indiana Dunes National Park |
We moved to Merrillville Indiana in October of 1963. Where we lived was actually a Crown Point address at the time, but now on the map our old neighborhood shows to be in Merrillville. We were only there for a bit less than 3 years--just long enough for me to attend middle school. Soon after that we moved to East Tennessee where I attended high school and later college.
In a way, our brief stay in Indiana was like an interlude in the same way that middle school (we called it junior high back then) is like an educational interlude between childhood and teen years. Indiana was like an intermission in my life.
This is not to cast aspersion on Indiana. I have fond memories of living for short periods in a few Indiana towns. There were three months spent in Terre Haute and another three months in Evansville. They seemed like very nice towns and I enjoyed my stays in them. Then there was another somewhat peculiar, but pleasant month in a little place called Spencer. So I know a bit about Indiana. I have passed through the state many times over the past several years.
If I were strongly compelled to leave California I would undoubtedly move in an eastward direction and Indiana would likely be in my top twenty states in which to relocate. Maybe even top ten. I'd have to weigh the options before making my final decision.
But, wait, I'm dreaming again. I don't seem to be moving yet and still not enough compelling evidence to so.
I guess I had another Indiana Interlude.
Do you ever daydream about other places you'd like to live? Where would you head if you were going to move to a different state? Have you ever made a highly anticipated move only to be very disappointed in the end?
I like small towns much better than metropolises. If I could relocate within India - I'd go someplace in the Himalayas. If it's the rest of the world - Ethiopia! Anywhere in Africa.
ReplyDeleteThe sunset/rise is fantastic.
Nilanjana, urban areas have a lot of advantages, but there is a coziness--at least in my idealized view--in a small town.
DeleteThe photo is beautiful, but I can't take credit for it.
Lee
We have dear friends who have a farm in Indiana. They rent the fields out, but love to go and stay there on vacations. They plan to retire there. I've been to Indiana once! Everytime I see the name, I think of the song, "Indiana Wants Me." Do you remember it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1-S4QNsaFE
ReplyDeleteLisa, I'd love to retire in a farm setting, but I'm sure my wife wouldn't like it.
DeleteI do remember the song. It caught my attention because of the title, but it was also catchy. My youngest sister loved it.
Lee
I'm fortunate in that as well as living somewhere I really like, I get to travel a lot. Although I enjoy visiting different countries, I'm always happy to come home.
ReplyDeletePatsy, after many days on the road the thought of home for at least a week or so becomes mighty alluring.
DeleteLee
I spent a year in Indianapolis when I was about three, and sometimes I feel like I'm drawn back there. I look at the house we lived in on Google Maps and I can remember so much about living there. I think it was the first place I remember really well that we lived, and I can almost walk you through the house (it was half a duplex). Funny how you can remember things like that.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I can remember vividly all of the houses I lived in as a child starting from age 3 with vague image recollections prior to that. I'd like to be able to go inside of those houses. I've driven past all of them within the past decade.
DeleteLee
I ----internet.
ReplyDeleteSPCVH,
DeleteT--thanks.
Lee
I haven't had the desire to move to a different state, but I do hope to someday travel to other countries and maybe live there for a few years.
ReplyDeleteLoni, if you're happy where you are then it's best to stay. I've been to so many places where I'd be willing to relocate. My roots are many.
DeleteLee
And at least this little chunk of Indiana would welcome you!
ReplyDeleteCW, Indiana was generally welcoming to me. When I think of my Indiana memories it's almost like one of those Twilight Zone episodes of idyllic towns of yesteryear.
DeleteLee
I miss Tennessee immensely. I grew up in the northwestern states, then married a military man and moved about the country. After he retired, we moved to Tennessee and as soon as we crossed the border into the state, I immediately felt at home. Lived there for 15 1/2 and then moved away around 12 years ago. Whenever I feel "homesick" it's for Eastern TN.
ReplyDeleteTrudy, I miss TN a lot, but anywhere in those mountain regions can be nice. There are a lot of pretty places that would be closer to where my kids live.
DeleteLee
Interesting small bit of information. Interlude. Today my blog had 126 page views so far which I consider as a good first day performance. Industrial Engineering and Operations Management - Distinction and Combination
ReplyDeleteNarayana, thanks for stopping by with your blog stats. Hope you continue to perform at a level that pleases you.
DeleteLee
I grew up in IL, where I took GREEN as the norm of life. I now live in desert CA, and miss green. So, I'd like to visit green places, but live here. But, oh, green how I miss you.
ReplyDeleteSusan K, my wife always marvels at the greenness back east--as do I.
DeleteLee
We've pretty much moved down from the biggest city (inland) in SA to a small coastal town. We're familiar with it - but now the challenge is to make it a permanent home. It's ok, a nice challenge ..
ReplyDeleteSusan S., a location downsize is apt as we grow older. I want a small town house with a big front porch with a rocking chair on it where I can sit and watch the world around me.
DeleteLee
Interesting, I am a Newie girl born and raised, lived in Newie my whole life. Newie is short for Newcastle
ReplyDeleteJo-Anne, I moved too much to feel that for myself. If anything I put my claim on TN since those were my coming of age years.
DeleteLee
That many moves fits the description of "unsettling" especially in childhood. My dad built houses and our moves were about one acre apart. I've lived in several cold northern states (never disappointed) before finally settling in Hawaii.
ReplyDeletehttp://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/
Gail, moving during childhood wasn't particularly unsettling for me, but that was mostly because of the closeness and stability of our family. My dad worked for a company that built dams, bridges, and huge mills so our moves were in hundreds or thousands of miles instead of just down the road a piece. The winters could be brutal in Northern Indiana, but I was there during a time of my life when that weather didn't bother me so much. Now I can get very cold in the winter here in L.A. and it's not really that cold.
DeleteLee
I lived in Muncie, Indiana for almost 16 years and finished my degree plus did some graduate work at Ball State. Those were good times for me, but I think wherever we live, our experience is more about family and friends than it is about place.
ReplyDeletePatricia, without family and friends one can start feeling pretty isolated. Might as well live as a hermit in the wilderness in that state of being.
DeleteLee
Indiana always sounded, to me, like a nice state to live in. I love Canada and am happy where I am but if I did move..I would love to live in Austria...somewhere in the mountains even though I am scared of heights. I always felt a pull to this area.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, I picture an old-timey idyllic time when I think of Indiana. Some of the towns still kind of have that feel except for the cars and everything else. But it's mostly the old buildings that capture that feeling.
DeleteLee
I'd love to live in Hawaii, and still harbor an idle fantasy of living in Alaska, with its beautiful scenery, remoteness, and the experience of being snowed in for a long time and having to live off one's own resources like a pioneer. In reality, I'll probably move back to NY, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania, or join my favorite aunt in Florida, instead of striking out for an entirely new state.
ReplyDeleteIf I was restricted to moving within the US it would to somewhere on the Pacific Northwest coast, say Oregon. In North America, it would be across the border into British Columbia. However, part of me wants to move back to North Wales,
ReplyDeleteLee,
ReplyDeleteWe passed through Indiana in 2000. DH had a job interviews in Michigan and St. Louis, MO. Unfortunately I have no opinion on the state one way or the other, except Peyton Manning, former UT football quarterback, played football for the Colts for many of his years while in the NFL. That photo of Indiana Dunes National Park sure is beautiful and a place I'd like to visit. I wouldn't be happy living that far north. It's much too cold for us. We see a lot of Californians move this way to escape the high cost of living there. I certainly get the appeal but the influx of residents is driving our real estate prices up making harder on folks native to the area. I really hate that, too.
I don't dream of living anywhere other than here because it's the purrfect climate with a relative low cost of living but if I were ever to win the lottery, yes that's a dream, then I'd like to have a summer home in Maine and winter home in Florida. Knoxville would be our permanent residence with us spending much of our time here.
I is for Intertidal Zone in my Little Mermaid Art Sketch series. Come join me and happy a2zing!