I am not and never will be a city girl

Sometimes city life really wears on me.

This is my fourth school year in Louisville, and I've been here for almost a year and a half straight. 

Sometimes I like it, most of the time I don't. I like it because there are a lot of places to go, eat, shop. But I can't do that all the time. It's a great social life but you have to have a lot of money to do that. 

What's irritating: 

the sirens on the street at 3 am 

the garbage man emptying the dumpster at 5 am

the disheveled loiterers on corners every time of the day

the middle age men in trucks who stare at me on the sidewalk

the emails from UL about the latest armed robbery near campus

the traffic from 4-6 pm, the traffic the rest of the time

the small parking spaces

the narrow roads

feeling unsafe after dark

being unable to wander outside after dark

being unable to see the stars.

Thankfully, Louisville likes its greenery and there are tons of huge trees all over the city, along with quite a lot of green space. Check out Olmstead.

So, as I walk to and from school this fall, I like to look at the trees, because they are beautiful and help me appreciate city-life a little bit more.

I went out one afternoon on a little bike ride and took some pictures.

The colors of the red tree fascinate me, and I'm sad that I won't be able to see its pretty red leaves throughout winter.

The truck Joe and I found over the weekend.

And I finally got a picture of the squirrel that visits my patio. He destroyed the plant Joe gave me (that scraggly thing in the background), even chewed on my bamboo, so I put out some seeds and peanuts for him, which he really likes. He's really paranoid and skittish, but adorable.

I find the colors of fall against the colors of a city refreshing. But I also find the juxtaposition somewhat unsettling. We aren't living in nature so much as nature is (sometimes reluctantly) allowed to live with us.