Malinda Lo
Blog
Oct 30, 2008
Country living
Last weekend I moved to the country. Well, to a small town called Fairfax (population: 7,070 + me), which is about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. This town is known primarily for its ice cream shop, The Scoop (I can testify to its complete gloriousness), and for its somewhat eccentric identity. Let’s just say there are three shops selling Tibetan merchandise in downtown area, which is about two blocks long.
Beautiful downtown Fairfax
I’ve lived in cities all my adult life (Boston, New York, London, Beijing, Los Angeles, San Francisco — yes, all of them), so you might ask: Why, Malinda, did you move to this tiny town? Well, dear reader, I moved here so that I could become all domesticated with my girlfriend. And her dog.
I’ve only been “living” here for a few days (although I’ve obviously visited here before), but I can already determine several differences from life in the Big City.
- When I go outside in the morning, I smell trees! Woodsy, naturey, big green oak trees. You know the smell. It’s heavenly. I do not miss the stink of garbage down the block in the Mission (although I might come to miss the burritos and tacos).
- It is so quiet that I can hear the birds singing, and these birds are not pigeons. I do not miss pigeons.
- This town is somewhat lacking in diversity, especially compared to San Francisco. This takes me back to my childhood in another small town, Louisville, Colorado, except that Fairfax’s lack of diversity is made up for (sort of) in its left-wing liberalism and, again, unusually large number of Tibetan shops. Plus, San Francisco’s only 45 minutes away.
- There are no good burritos in Fairfax. Sigh. I guess having good ice cream is a solid trade-off, though.
- There is the most amazing neighborhood Italian restaurant ever here, Sorella’s. They give you cheese hacked off a huge wheel of parmigiano when you come in for dinner, along with a bowl of marinated olives. And then after dinner they give you animal crackers and gummy bears. And sometimes port. Plus almost all the pasta is penne, which is my favorite pasta shape (seriously — penne is superior), and it is all cooked perfectly al dente. Although there were tons of excellent restaurants in my San Francisco neighborhood, none of them were as excellently down-home as this one.
Will I go crazy from being separated from urban living? Will I long for the ability to walk to the Castro? (Probably. Or at least the ability to walk home from the Castro after a night out.) Will I go crazy from lack of good burritos at 2 a.m.? (I can’t stay up past 9:20 p.m. these days, so probably not.) Stay tuned to find out.
Malinda,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while on RSS, but this is the first time I’ve commented.
My hat’s completely off to you! I’m a city femme through and through; the more dense and urban, the better, so I know I’d go stark raving mad in a town that small; you’ve got more strength than I.
I spend time with my friends even out in the burbs and it all seems too quiet, too white-bread. I often half joke that it’s not natural not to have street-lights through my apartment window, and a police siren every 10 minutes or so. The silence out there unnerves me.
Not to mention, of course, not having a car, and walking everywhere, including my supermarket right near my el (subway) stop and all the cafes in my neighbourhood. Knowing the gay-boy couple in the apartment downstairs are having a fight, or sitting out on the stoop with other neighbours in my building watching the city walk by in all its wonderful colours and stripes, particularly now as Fall hits and all the trees bury the cars parked on the street in brightly-coloured leaves.
Not to mention, a kick-arse burrito at 2am
But you’ve got me impressed, I know I couldn’t do that.
After 2 years of living in a small town, I’m so happy to be back in a big city.
Quietness and tree smell is overrated.
Enjoy your domestication.
Sarah in Chicago — It’s nice to see you around here! I totally recall the last time I lived in the suburbs and was completely unnerved by the lack of traffic sounds. This time, I comfort myself with the thought that this isn’t really the suburbs — it’s a small town. Hey, it makes a difference in my mind. No strip malls, ya know?
Natazzz — Enjoy your big city living.
Malinda
Changing your lifestyle is both exciting and daunting at the same time as it is always the fear of the unknown that makes one wonder if you should take that first step to change. You have taken that first step and I wish you and your partner much happiness in your new life.
Kathy – countryfarm-lifestyles
Malinda,
I never thought I would say this about any blog …. but you just made me cry a little. Maybe some back story is in order. I have been homesick for months! And am eagerly anticipating my winter visit to CA. I grew up in “The Valley” (Forest Knolls and Lagunitas) and moved to the East Coast in 2002. The idea of a small town (not the suburbs) still has such a tight grip on me. There is something very romantic about the idea of living in a place like Fairfax. Left-wing liberal, close to a major city, quirky and full of beauty. In the years living away I have become accustomed to all that is “city” and often wonder if I could really transition back to living in a small town.
So when I read your post after a long day at work (including three crying four year olds and a flat tire) I was so happy. Happy mostly because it sounds like you are doing well and also happy for Fairfax that it can now count you as a resident!
You have summed up my fears/loves of west marin. Oh nostalgia.
Good luck on all your adventures!
-Sara
p.s. go to roy’s redwoods it is even better on a slightly foggy day.
Sara in New Haven, thanks for stopping by! You know West Marin much better than I do but I’ll definitely look out for Roy’s Redwoods — I love the hiking up here. And I agree, the idea of Fairfax is totally romantic. So far, the reality has been pretty romantic, too.