i'm a frequent visitor to new jersey and new york. for a long time now, i've considered central jersey my home away from home besides aurora, colorado. i've lived there longer than any other place in the united states aside from my present residence in florida. and of course, colorado is home to most of my family in america. in a fifty mile radius, about 40 cousins on the cadiz side have called aurora home for many decades now.
but the northeast has always been special. the magic of new york never fails to hold me in awe whenever i visit. for a long time, i fancied looking forward to living there except that now the practicalities of living in such a complex and impractical city always catches up with me. having lived in suburban america for almost three years now, my need for more living space takes precedence over the thought of living under the glittering lights of the big apple. how could i, for example, find and ultimately be able to afford a property with a pool there? maybe in jersey. but even in jersey, you have to close the pool for four of the 12 months of the year because of freezing.
and for the three days that i stayed there last weekend, i got so tired of the 40 degree cold. it was nice in the first 4 hours, but when it had become so difficult to smoke, to walk without shoes and practically to walk anywhere without the heavy clothing, it just got very irritating.
then i appreciated how lucky i am to live in florida. it can get cold too down here, but not cold enough to forgo of smoking. and even when the temperature drops, there's always the sun shining ever brightly in the sunshine state. in my three days in NY/NJ, the sun never showed up even once. this explains much of the increase in the consumption of anti-depressants in the northern states. not to mention the consequent surge in suicides in those dreary and gloomy 4-season states during the autumn and winter.
but i like new jersey. i am more familiar with its routes and jughandles than i am with most places in northern florida. i like the diverse characteristics of its population, the compactness of this small but prosperous state, its closeness to a host of major metropolitan areas. aside from new york, boston and the rest of new england, baltimore, the DC area, philadelphia and even toronto are all within driving distance. the size of its filipino population is such that you won't miss seeing a pinoy in any mall or park speaking either filipino or english with that distinctly elegant accent.
i still have extended family in NJ. my cousin and uncle have moved down here to florida even before i did but i still have very strong links remaining in the garden state. i think i'd still visit NJ even if i head west to california.
but i'd probably prefer to do so in the spring.
