Friday Five: Love the One You're With

Kathrynzj says at RevGals: "This Friday Five will post while I'm at the beach which for me is more than a vacation destination, it is a trip home. I have found it quite easy to wax nostalgic about the places I used to live (well, except for one) and have begun to wonder what it is I like about the place I'm living now? For instance I sure do love the beach, but this picture was taken about 30 minutes away from my house - not too shabby!

And so I ask you to please name five things you like about where you are living now... and as your bonus - 1 thing you don't like."

1) a rush hour that takes about 6 minutes and lasts between 8:50 and 9 am, and between 5:15 and 5:20 pm. Seriously. The traffic lady on the news usually has almost nothing to say. After Northern Virginia traffic jams, this is bliss.

2) Incredible Farmers' Markets, including the one that is a half mile from my parish, and is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There's another nearby one that's open on Tuesday evenings as well. Yum.

3) A cost of living that jibes well with a priest's salary, and an honesty amongst tradespeople that warms my heart. Back in NoVA, whenever I took the car into the shop, it cost me $700. It got to be a joke, how it never cost less than that. My last trip to the garage here? $49.50. And when I went in to get something else done, the guy said he couldn't do it because the requisite machine was broken, and he said if I wanted to get it fixed before he could tend to it, I should go to a particular place where I wouldn't "get ripped off or nothin'." God bless him!Of course, it may have been the collar that put the fear of God into him. LOL.

4) Agecroft, and the Richmond Shakespeare Festival. PH and I are going to see "Antony and Cleopatra tomorrow night. We'll start with a picnic on the grounds, on the banks of the James, then enjoy a fabulous and energetic production.

5) Gelati Celesti, which makes about thirty different flavors of gelato-style ice cream, Worth the four mile drive from home. Actually, it's good that it is that far from home, so I am not tempted to visit there very often.

Bonus: What I do not like about Richmond: I miss some dear friends from up north, and it's further from the kids. Thanks be to God for social networking media, Skype, good cell phone plans, and folks who are willing to drive for a visit!