We are way better than Nome, AK

There is a delay so I’m listening to podcasts that are several weeks old, but I was listening to Smart City Radio, all on urban planning, and their piece on what attracts young college educated people to cities. They were talking about a report put out by TSC for CEOs for Cities here PDF1 and herePDF2. Things were going fine until they started talking about cities young people did not want to live in, DC was one. Along with cities in AK and SD. Okay…… Yeah, it’s hot and the electricity goes out occasionally when it rains, but you do not have to fight polar bears and our Summers are real.

Day after the 4th

The sidewalk, I notice, wasn’t as littered with firework casings as last year. Despite seeing some pretty big displays from various windows in the house. I was on the phone with Bc, who lives in the exciting burb of Beltsville, MD (home of Behnke’s) describing all that was going on inside and outside the house. Inside, I was making sure I was going to go to sleep by making a lamb with thyme dish, on a bed of brown rice with a side of Swiss Chard. That and a couple of glasses of $2 buck Chuck were sure to knock me out despite the rockets and the bombs going off outside. Outside, one family was setting off the fireworks in front of their home. That ’caused a lot of smoke. In a nearby empty lot I could see that folks were setting off all sorts of fireworks and sparklers.
From my living room window I could catch a glimpse of streaks of red rockets and big round balls going off east of me. In the reflection of the windows across the street I could see bright lights coming from the west. From my kitchen window, which faces the alley and not much else, just over the top of the other houses I could see things going off. So I enjoyed the local firework shows from the comfort of my home.