Mrs. Wingfield's Neighborhood

When Kyle and I first started dating, I told him how much I had always wanted to live in a small town. Because he grew up in a small town, he informed me that there are some cons as well as the pros I'd imagined: Everyone knows your business, and there isn't always a lot to do. After visiting his hometown of Dalton a few times, I started to catch on to what he meant. Dalton is a great town, but you sure better be wearing makeup when you leave the house because you will see every person in the city even when you are just running one errand. And he was also right about how your past stays with you forever in a small town. We're lucky that Kyle had a good past, because while visiting there we have run into his former teachers, church choir director, old Boy Scout leaders, neighbors, and any other person that has known him at any point in his life.

So today I was realizing another reason I love Brussels so much -- it is like a small town in a big city. Yes, it is not a huge city, but there are great restaurants (Brussels has more Michelin star restaurants per person than Paris), interesting cultural events, and beautiful parks. Everything you need is relatively close, and although the traffic isn't great, it sure isn't as bad as Atlanta's. People seem to stay in their neighborhoods more, so you really get to know everyone who lives near you. This weekend we joined six other people at a friend's house, and every person there lived in the neighborhood and had been able to walk there. Today, for instance, I was walking around and ran into six people I know in a matter of two hours. In Atlanta, you rarely just bump into anyone you know. Brussels isn't so small that you see someone you know every day (six people in two hours is rare for me). But because people stay in their neighborhoods, you really get to recognize people you have daily interactions with.

Today, partly because it was market day, I saw my flower guy, my bread girl, my waffle woman, my quiche guy, my chicken man, my local bar owner, my favorite Chinese restaurant waitress walking with her two kids, my favorite Italian restaurant waitress hanging out with her friends, and my dry cleaning lady walking down the street. Although they don't all know my name, they all recognize my face and it is really nice to have someone smile with recognition when you walk up.

I guess anyone reading this who has ever lived in downtown NYC, Boston, or Chicago might not understand why I find all of this so novel, but I realized the other day that the only other time in my life where I have been able to walk less than a block to a friend's home was my freshman year in college when I lived in the dorm. I have never been able to just have a short walk to the grocery store/dry cleaners, so I am especially enjoying that. It wouldn't be nearly as easy to live in this part of town if we had kids, so I feel very lucky that we are able to enjoy it all right now.