Our Chosen Little Corners of The World

Retuning from a too brief visit to San Diego earlier this month, we drove home from the Pittsburgh, PA airport in a dark, steady downpour, making it difficult to see the road. Home again, oh boy.

It’s never easy to return home after a great vacation. It’s hard to refocus, pick up where we left off and dive back into the minutiae of daily life. There’s no doubt that it was more difficult after this particular winter trip because of where we had been – the Sun Belt -- and where we had returned to – not the Sun Belt.

San Diego

It could have been worse. Here at home in Pittsburgh this month, the weather has been remarkably mild. We’ve had only a touch of snow and have enjoyed lots of warm, spring-like days (including today’s 50 degree temp). We’ve had many more sunny days than usual for this time of year, but the drab landscape of brown trees and gray skies for the most part is still a little depressing. It won’t be green again here for a few months, a long time to wait.

Generally I don’t mind the barren landscape that is Pennsylvania in the winter. Part of me likes the stark backdrop of leafless trees occasionally brightened by a blanket of snow. But having seen the beauty of San Diego in January, it’s difficult to get those sunny scenes out of my mind.

It made me wonder how we end up living where we do and how we decide where to put down roots -- and why. What brings us to the little corners of the world where we settle in and stay? Why do we stay and others move on? What holds us in those places when there are so many other opportunities out there to explore?

Besides jobs, often what keeps us in one place is family. But the Baby Boomer generation may be the last to seek out places to live and work that kept us closer to our families. I wonder if our children will do that because, as they have grown, the world has become a much smaller place. And hey, we told them to go out and experience all the world has to offer and they have done just that. College semesters spent abroad, internships and job opportunities away from home and the Internet as a way to get to know others far away have opened their eyes to a larger world than many of us ever saw when we were their age.

Pittsburgh, PA

The only places I have lived in my life are Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, not really that much different except for the ocean views. I hadn’t been to the South or the west coast until I was older and already settled here. I love where I live, but there are times when I’m away and feel the ocean breezes and watch people enjoying the outdoors all-year-round that it’s easy to start to question a long ago decision.

We found that the people in San Diego were friendly without exception. My son Dan, newly planted there, says it’s hard to be grumpy when you live in such a beautiful place. Funny, but that’s the same reputation that the city of Pittsburgh has. People are friendly here, too, a tougher chore with all the gray and dreary days, patiently waiting for spring to come.

But maybe not so difficult if we are in the right place to begin with.

By Teresa K. Flatley

1/07