Domesticity

Here's what I've learned about myself since moving to Denver: I'm very domestic. And I like it that way.

When I say "domestic" I don't mean that I like keeping house, per se. I'm not exactly a neat freak, and I only cook on rare occasions (Torsten has pretty much taken over the cooking duties since we moved into our house, and I like it that way).

No, what I mean is that I like staying in. I like being at home. And when I do go out, I like to do things that also feel fairly domestic.

For example: I like to go for walks and hikes. I like to go to the gym. I like doing the grocery shopping and other errands. I like going to the dog park. I like going to restaurants. In short, I like routine.

This weekend we ran some errands. We took the dog for a walk in a nearby park in the snow. We watched football. We went to the dog park. We cuddled in front of the fire. We slept. We cooked. And it was lovely and perfect.

I don't like going out to bars or clubs. I don't feel the need to hit up the latest festival or opening or museum exhibit. We subscribe to a local magazine, and I do peruse the calendar for listings of things we'd be interested in, but they tend to be more along the lines of a nearby farmer's market, and not so much with latest hip hangout spot. We hardly ever even bother going to the movies, even when there's something playing that we both want to see.

It's not that we never leave the house, or wish we didn't have to. We do get out and about. But our interests are in very specific things, like exploring the mountains and foothills and parks nearby.

This is part of why we didn't want to live in DC anymore. DC is a great city in a lot of ways, and it is priced accordingly. To me, it is absolutely worth paying the high cost of living in a big city if you love that city and take advantage of its unique offerings. We didn't. We didn't love DC and we never went to the museums or fairs or anything else that was going on. In fact, we tried to stay away from those things because we didn't like the hassle of the crowds.

So for us, the cost of living in DC wasn't worth the benefit. And there were several simple things missing--things like the ability to own a car without huge hassle, and having easy access to a Target and other suburban amenities, and affordable housing.

And yet, I still remember the comment a friend made when we told him we were moving to Denver. He said, "What a surprise. I always thought of you guys as more urban."

And at the time, you know what? I was offended by that. I thought we WERE urban. We handled living in DC. We even liked it. We weren't intimidated by the pace or the atmosphere or the people. We were at home there. And I was all like, we ARE urban. We're young urban professionals--the very definition of yuppie. And we like it. And Denver is a city too.

But now, I've realized that actually? We aren't urban. We like our house and our peaceful neighborhood. We like living in a dog-friendly area with lots of open spaces. We like having a car and driving to the mall if we need to run an errand, instead of spending an hour transferring on the Metro and the bus. We like having access to so many gorgeous hiking areas. We like Denver. And yeah, we like the downtown area too. But mostly just to have a nice meal and then take a nice walk.

And I like it this way. I'm domestic, I'm not urban, and I'm very happy with things the way they are. And it only took me 25 years to figure that out.