Bonjour, Happiness! by Jamie Cat Callan

Author:Jamie Cat Callan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2011-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

Town and Country

It doesn’t really matter where you live. You can also enjoy both the city and the country. If you live in the country already, or even the suburbs, why not really take advantage of your good fortune and plant a vegetable garden this spring? Spend time walking in the fresh air. Buy a bicycle and rediscover the joys of racing in the wind. And if you live in a city, then look into shared city gardens or a neighborhood community that wants to beautify your block by planting flowers and protecting your local trees. My good friend Laurie Graff, a terrific writer and an actress, lives on New York City’s Upper West Side. She’s a perfect example of a city girl who enjoys being en plein air as much as possible. During the summers, you will find her running through Central Park and at the first snow, she gets out her cross-country skis and off she goes through the winter wonderland. Once, there was a blizzard and Amsterdam Avenue was completely closed down and she actually skied down the street. And she wasn’t alone. Lots of New Yorkers do this!

You see, a trip to the country doesn’t have to be a big expensive vacation. Consider short weekend getaways with friends where you pick apples or help out on an organic farm. You don’t have to be a total country girl to enjoy the country. In fact, I’ll never forget the day I was about to leave for Boston when my husband, who was fishing at the end of the dock, called me over and asked me to cast a reel or two. Well, even though I was all dressed up, I cast one reel and voilà! I actually caught a striped bass wearing lipstick and high heels—me that is, not the fish!

My husband is quite the fisherman and gardener, too, and I will tell you the truth, I don’t think I would have ever come to the country if it weren’t for him. But I am glad I did. I am happy to have this challenge in my life. I am happy to learn something new. I am happy that I’m actually able to surprise myself at this stage of my life! People who’ve known me for years as the red-lipstick girly girl were shocked when I sent them a photo of me with my big striped bass. And to be perfectly honest, that was probably half the fun for me!

And in all seriousness, I am happy to be able to go out in the garden and pick fresh basil. I am thrilled to bite into a garden-grown, sunshine-infused ruby red tomato. And I am more than happy to get my hands a little dirty and dig for those potatoes at the bottom of the earth.

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