Walking in Atlanta

"Americans get to pick their poison: less exercise and poor health, or walking on roads where more than 47,000 people have died in the last ten years." (From an excellent article by "Transportation for America")

This is certainly my conundrum here in Atlanta.

Chris is committed to walking the mile into work, and I understand why. We both enjoyed life without a car while we lived in Germany and tasted what a pedestrian friendly atmosphere can do for one's quality of life. We specifically chose our current home based on its proximity to work so that we could try living with just one car. However, the sidewalks in this area are either terrible or non-existent. We're just renting, so we'll move on to a place with better pedestrian options. However, someone will have to live here, so it makes me feel like proactively changing the way this city is structured! I don't often feel so fired up about community politics, but I am about this.

Just one appalling example of what Chris
walks on (er, around) on the way to work.

Another exasperating walk is the half-mile between our home and Daisy's ballet school. I tried walking with the stroller once, and I will never try again. It was practically impossible, for a variety of sidewalk reasons. For example, a fire hydrant would stick out from the middle of my path and I would need to creep onto the busy street to get around it, or the sidewalk would disappear for a block and I would need to push over a rocky dirt ditch or into the lane. It was terrible. (What makes it even worse is the clear memory I have of the full mile I could easily walk to Daisy's class in Germany.)


Luckily, it's not just me versus City of Atlanta. I quickly found PEDS, an advocacy group specifically for Atlanta. They alert me with notices of town hall meetings and senatorial decisions. I've also found wonderful resources online, like educational articles detailing Where sidewalks should go, as well as a little bit of humor.

PBS did a special report on Atlanta's pedestrian plight. It exposes the root of pedestrian problems here and also for all of American suburbia. I'm comforted knowing that many people recognize the problems, but irritated that the solutions are apparently not fundable. Please raise my taxes.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Lost and Found

Just now, while flipping through an old notebook I kept in Germany, I found a list of things I missed/ didn't miss while living there. It was made off the top of my head, and some items made me smile while reading this morning:

What I miss least about the US:
Driving

What I miss most about the US:
Living in my native culture
Family
Affordable tortillas and refried beans

What I like about living in Germany most:
Sunday and evening closures
German bread / Quality of food
Cheap ice cream cones

What I don't like:Broken glass / Graffiti
Smoking
Dog poop

...Very philosophical and provocative, no? There are some obvious things I left off these lists (ease of public transit, proximity of so many different countries, refined sensibilities), but the fact that these lists existed for me in this way kind of cracks me up. Best thing? Ice cream cones. Worst thing? No tortillas!

"Sewing"

: In quotes because I lack a compulsive attention to detail. I will never sell my work, nor give it to you as a present. But I will use some old fabric and a sewing machine and make a dress for Daisy that goes "all the way down to the floor."

I kind of fumbled my way through putting that zipper in, and the skirt is actually way too long. There's some gathered fabric that got caught up in my stitches.  It works, though - it's dress-up!

My other project was placemats. It was so fun to go to the fabric store and choose these colors! 

No major disasters here, but my sewing machine did kind of stall out in the middle of making some coordinating napkins. I also have a table runner on the docket. I guess I need to bring the machine into a shop or something. Not sure when that will happen, but until then, my seamstress-y adventures are on hold.

Georgia Aquarium

Both my husband and I had the privilege of holding annual passes to Disneyland when we were young. Besides the obvious benefit of getting to go a ton of times, having an annual pass also allows for a different quality of visit: the visit can just be for a couple of hours, and you don't have to run around seeing absolutely everything. We decided that we should get an annual pass to something during our first year in Atlanta. We went for the Georgia Aquarium - world's largest. Just like the airport. 

Blue aquarium, next to Olympic Centennial Park
and World of Coke

We will probably get to know these fish very well. Daisy asks to go almost every day, but I'll try to ration her to once a week.

Daisy's favorite "aminals" are the penguins. There's a special crawl tunnel to their perch, which is actually more fun than what my picture makes it look like:

 It's a research aquarium and apparently well-funded. They have whale sharks, manta rays, and groupers in this room. We got to see these divers who were taking some sort of measurements, and they also had microphones hooked up so that we could hear them speak (pause - gasp - speak) from the tank. Gimmicky to me, but awesome to a three-year-old.

If you come visit us this year, we'll take you here with us! A cool option for pass-holders here is getting an annual rotating guest pass. The way they said it to me was, "You can take your husband one day, your mom the next day." Sold.

Preschool

The thesis of this post is: we are in the coolest preschool in Atlanta.

It’s a cooperative preschool, which basically means that tuition is lower than other philosophically progressive schools and that parents are active members in the schooling process (rotating through as a Parent Teacher, serving on a committee).

Let me explain a little bit of what being a part of this co-op has meant for us.

Last night, I attended the Playscape design meeting for the school’s new outdoor space. Ever since reading about moveable parts in the Imagination Playgrounds in New York City and watching kids play with some different play equipment in Germany, I’ve had a passion about playground structures (random, I know).  I’m thrilled to be a part of these planning stages and excited about how many other people around me think creatively about outdoor education!

Last weekend, there was a welcome picnic for the entire school in the neighborhood’s community garden. All three of us had a good time.

Yesterday was Daisy’s first day of preschool. 

There are six kids in her class, three girls and three boys. The teacher came to our house for a home visit last month, so Daisy is already pretty comfortable with her. We’ve also been there for work days, getting the new facility ready for the school year, so she even knows her way around.

After I dropped her off, I had 3.75 hours to myself. I met with some other parents for coffee for a while before ducking into some cool shops that I hadn’t had the chance to look into yet. Then I walked. 

Historic Atlantan Home

I saw a moving tribute to the honorable soldiers of the Confederate States of America. Wait, aren't they the bad guys?

I got a free pair of earrings. I stopped for lunch by myself, feeling a little bit lonely. I wrote this poem:

I grew a second set of eyes

The day you were born, 

An evolutionary trait inherited 

From mother bears or

An insect. 

I feel them when I wrinkle my forehead.

Invisible vision to everyone else

When you are

Not With Me.

I felt like a married person who forgets to wear a wedding ring and feels conspicuously "unbranded."

Tomorrow, it’s my turn to be the Parent Teacher. Every parent is encouraged to bring something to share with the class when it’s her day, so I’m bringing my flute (plus my student flute for the kids to try). I’m also bringing the class snack before lunch. Looking forward to my "first day of preschool!"

"Nurture Shock"

I recently read a fabulous book geared for parents and educators called "Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children." I could probably write thirty blog posts detailing the realizations I had while reading it, but it's a library book and due back today. Suffice it to say that I would highly recommend it to any parent of school-age (or preschool-age) children.

Startling and challenging results of studies are compiled and cover a broad range of subjects, including the inverse power of praise, sleep, formations of racial bias, lying, testing, sibling relationships, teen rebellion and arguing, the supreme importance of self-control in learning well, relational aggression and peer groups, and infants' language development. The studies, references, and experts are all legit.

It's an easy read. It immediately gave me new ideas of how to play and speak with Daisy. It prepared me for my parenting future. It's awesome. Remind me to check it out of the library again in a couple of years.

Mooning over Metropolises

Before we ended up in Atlanta, we imagined life in other American cities on Chris' interview tour: Ithaca, New York. Ames, Iowa. South Bend, Indiana. The possibility of needing to settle into small-town life was evident. I know that these cities are full of wonderful people, but I also understand that there is a major difference in what sort of opportunities are available.

For instance, there's the German School of Atlanta. It's a Saturday morning school for all ages, so Daisy (and I, as of today) are enrolled! D's teachers reported that she spoke German in the class, and Daisy is happy that the kids speak both German and English. She even came home with a Schultuete! (Need to find the umlauts on this computer...)

I loved being in my class. My teacher is from Berlin and married an American. Another couple in my class lived in Erlangen for six years with their two kids before moving to Atlanta in July. Two guys lived in Germany while they were in the military, and another couple of people have German spouses. Because everyone has this strong connection to Germany, it's a really fun place to be, and I feel like I've found a perfect hobby.

The school takes over a middle school every week - I was amazed at how many people buzzed through the halls and at how many native German tongues I heard. Thank you, Atlanta!

Life was Simpler Then

Coupons, sales, deals...gimmicks. I'm sick of them.

I am in the market for new running shoes. In Germany, I would have gone to one store and bought a pair in a size that fit me. Simple. (Actually, in Germany I wouldn't have needed running shoes at all because I got all my exercise by not driving and by living on the fourth floor.) But now that I'm in the US, I feel the need of regular "extracurricular" exercise oh-so-much, and I feel the weight of the dictum: "Don't pay too much!"

Mattresses that are $2,000 at Sears occasionally go on sale for 50% off - we caught that sale! My future running shoes are probably hiding in some super sale in this weekend's newspaper, which I should make a point to look for.

I wish that I could simply go, pay, and feel content with my purchase. But that won't happen unless I know that I didn't get ripped off.

I think that I should go check out Atlanta's Aldi today to calm down. Maybe they'll have shoes.

About my Title

The phrase "Crossroads of my Doorstep" is ripped directly from a favorite Bob Dylan song of mine: "One Too Many Mornings." Reflective and melancholy, emphasizing time passing and distance expanding, the mood seems right for me right now. My doorstep is where I currently am, but my past/future/dreams/troubles/... are the directions my mind can travel, and where I will indeed travel with these blog posts.

To listen to an especially cool live version of the song, check out this video. It is worth watching merely for the performers' eclectic wardrobe, not to mention the surprising Japanese subtitles!



I wish Dylan had been wearing that when we saw him in Madison a few years ago :) This era probably seems to him to be a thousand miles behind...