What would make me happy?

Barbara asked me this question yesterday when we were in the pool at the Brandon YMCA, watching Julianne and Nathaniel splash and play. At the moment, I was still thinking about work and the world and all the things there which make me unhappy, so I resolved now would be a good time to start a blog and work on recording my thoughts and experiences and accomplishments as I make progress to finding a way to be happy in this crazy human world.

The real world - nature, where you have weather and mountains and trees and insects and rivers and fungi and "red in tooth and claw" and all that - is where I'm truly happy, even in this ecological disaster known as Florida. I like being able to get away from people, I like dialing down the intellect and just experiencing being a part of things, I like removing self from the process.

Don't get me wrong: I love my family and friends and like very much to be around them, and I've even been happy walking the streets of New York and San Francisco and Chicago, so it's not as simple as not being in a city. Rather, I think it's connected to not buying into consumerism and capitalism and things that ultimately have little meaning to me.

I have little patience for lies and masquerades that keep me from the truth, so politics and religion are on the rubbish heap for me as well.

But let's get down to the concrete. My ideal day would start with waking just before dawn, starting the coffee, and going for a run/walk with our dog. When we walked out the front door of our house, I'd see mountains, close enough that I could reach them in an hour on my bicycle. When we get back from our outing, I'd wake Barbara and the kids, and after I showered and dressed for the day, we'd have breakfast. I'd ride with them to school - probably hanging back with Julianne while Nathaniel raced on ahead - and then I'd ride to the office, my 17" MacBook Pro in my backpack.

I'd spend the day working on something useful and enabling, taking a lunch break with everyone else to have a common meal, and then I'd head home for dinner with the family. We'd go to the Y or do something active outdoors for an hour or so, and then come home for an evening of homework, reading, music, etc.

The house would be small and modest with one car in the driveway (no garage), the climate would let us leave the windows open most of the time, and we'd have a vegetable garden out back, and maybe some chickens. We'd know most if not all of our neighbors, we'd have meals at each other's house on occasion, and we'd also get together for music nights and the like.

Okay, so this is a bit Norman Rockwell-ish, but I hate living in the suburbs and commuting into Tampa, and I generally dislike living in Florida in this unbroken sea of suburbs and gated communities and malls. In more objective terms, what would make me happy is

living west of the Mississippi (I'm so over the east coast and the South in particular)

living where I can see mountains and get to them quickly

living near agriculture (I'm a peaknik, what can I say?)

living near a university and healthcare

I'm addicted to Tonya Poole's blog, so living in Alamosa, CO in the San Luis Valley seems ideal (once I get the job thing figured out), but this is not the sole solution to this equation.

It's a good start, though, as is this for an inaugural post. ;-)