Are We Not Great
Jul. 31st, 2020 07:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThe Philadelphia sanitation workers have been going on strike, and the city mayor supports the strike. I support the strike too, and now that I’m registered to vote I wrote to my local representatives to let them know as much. (It was cathartic, honestly, and also stress-relieving.)
Still, it’s been very hot, and there has been a lot of trash on the street for a long time.
So I booked a night at a bed and breakfast in upstate New York. I hear that’s what rich people do, and I thought it might be nice. West Philadelphia is green and beautiful, but I wanted to see, like, a forest. It was only about three hours away, with most of the drive through New Jersey (as opposed to western Pennsylvania), so I thought, why not?
My husband, who lived most of his life in the desert, was delighted. He told me that he used to read Lord of the Rings to practice English, and that he used to dream about driving through mountain forests.
Meanwhile, I was shocked. The nature was pretty, sure, but there were recently abandoned and boarded-up buildings everywhere, even around Woodstock, which is a wealthy white people fantasy village. It didn’t look like the South, because the landscape and climate are totally different, but also it kind of did.
I’m not articulating this well, but I think we might be in trouble if even upstate New York comes off like an urban exploration photoset. I guess a decade of economic depression will do that.
Still, it’s been very hot, and there has been a lot of trash on the street for a long time.
So I booked a night at a bed and breakfast in upstate New York. I hear that’s what rich people do, and I thought it might be nice. West Philadelphia is green and beautiful, but I wanted to see, like, a forest. It was only about three hours away, with most of the drive through New Jersey (as opposed to western Pennsylvania), so I thought, why not?
My husband, who lived most of his life in the desert, was delighted. He told me that he used to read Lord of the Rings to practice English, and that he used to dream about driving through mountain forests.
Meanwhile, I was shocked. The nature was pretty, sure, but there were recently abandoned and boarded-up buildings everywhere, even around Woodstock, which is a wealthy white people fantasy village. It didn’t look like the South, because the landscape and climate are totally different, but also it kind of did.
I’m not articulating this well, but I think we might be in trouble if even upstate New York comes off like an urban exploration photoset. I guess a decade of economic depression will do that.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 02:54 pm (UTC)If you ever want to do more forest-y mountain-y roadtrips, western MA/Berkshire County is lovely. Also some rich white people territory (especially Lenox, especially at Kripalu), but the nature is 10/10.