South-central P.A. is really quite pretty

I’m sitting on the outdoor patio at this place - the Cocoa Beanery in Hershey, just a few miles from Harrisburg - and the view here: I love it.

In front of me are gaping yellow daffodils, shrubs of various sizes and colors (light green, grass green, pale green encircled by paler green, green with a hint of red, green with a hint of wintergreen blue), and three flowering plants in various shades of purple - fuschia, lilac and royal - whose flowers’ names I do not know (I’ve never been too good at identifying plant life).

Beyond the Beanery’s landscaped terrace: wheat fields (or maybe it’s hay), rolling hills and a small, sloping mountain dense with trees and sparsely populated. Few cars have driven by, and bikers have passed through, too. It’s quiet and calm, and I like it.

There’s something to be said about being so close to the country, and it’s something I really like about living here. In Chicago you have to drive for an hour at least to escape the urban noise. You have to fight traffic and big-box suburban sprawl. You have to work hard for a bit of quietude. The journey itself is stressful, making the destination a bit less desirable.

I miss urban life (sometimes quite a lot), but I’m sure that one day when I return to a big city, I’ll miss being so close to such calm.

In other news:

1. Congrats to my mom, whose photo was picked up by Flickr’s official blog. As of 1 p.m., she’d received about 100 Flickr friend requests (and many well-deserved, complimentary comments).
2. Great friend/kickass writer Christina started a blog and has so far written about music, Starbucks and her dreams. Good stuff.
3. Nylon Magazine has 22 free songs available for download. Artists include Phoenix, La Roux, Of Montreal, White Lies and Passion Pit. I downloaded it yesterday and have already listened to it three times through.
4. This op-ed kinda scared me. Endocrine disruptors. As though we needed another ubiquitous chemical additive to fear.
5. R.I.P. Michael Jackson. (The Filipino prisoners are back.)