I live on the Central Coast of New South Wales and I loathe it with a passion.

To me it would make a fantastic nuclear test facility.

The town I live in is quiet and there's very little crime. On the other hand, there isn't much to do here and I'm hoping to move out of here in the not too distant future.

I live very close to Thumpalumpacus so all those pictures he put up are what I live with as well. I live a little further north and on the outskirts of Austin. I grew up about an hour north of where I live now and I wish I could go back. I know it is only an hour but the worlds are different. I don't work in Austin but rather a small town outside of it and the bank I work in faces a large green area so we watch the roadrunners and birds playing which is wonderful but I can't afford to live in this town because it is for the more wealthy. Back in Cove things are more military being next to the biggest military post and my mom is there.

We have lived in Georgia USA, two towns in Germany, and here in Texas. I loved the history of Germany (I remember the Neuschwanstein castle like it was a fairytale) but Texas is warm. I love the heat. I love the culture. I love the land. I just wish I didn't live so close to hippy Austin and it's traffic and closed in feeling.

This is the road I used to live on in my home town.


This is my in laws' ranch.


This is the same spot one year difference. I drive by it daily. BTW this is my little sister. I took all these pictures myself so I'm rarely in them.


Hiking a few weeks ago.

(July 7, 2016 at 11:39 am)mlmooney89 Wrote: I live very close to Thumpalumpacus so all those pictures he put up are what I live with as well. I live a little further north and on the outskirts of Austin. I grew up about an hour north of where I live now and I wish I could go back. I know it is only an hour but the worlds are different. I don't work in Austin but rather a small town outside of it and the bank I work in faces a large green area so we watch the roadrunners and birds playing which is wonderful but I can't afford to live in this town because it is for the more wealthy. Back in Cove things are more military being next to the biggest military post and my mom is there.

We have lived in Georgia USA, two towns in Germany, and here in Texas. I loved the history of Germany (I remember the Neuschwanstein castle like it was a fairytale) but Texas is warm. I love the heat. I love the culture. I love the land. I just wish I didn't live so close to hippy Austin and it's traffic and closed in feeling.

To have lived in all those places I'm guessing you grew up military?  (Me too, but navy.)  

Isn't Austin one of the bluest cities in Texas?  Cove seems situated similarly to New Orleans where I just visited recently.  I found it interesting and unusual in my experience how the temperature and weather could vary so rapidly.


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Ooooh wee, look at you!  All young and purdy and I remember seeing your dog before.  Looks like a good one.

(July 7, 2016 at 11:54 am)Whateverist the White Wrote: To have lived in all those places I'm guessing you grew up military?  (Me too, but navy.)  

Isn't Austin one of the bluest cities in Texas?  Cove seems situated similarly to New Orleans where I just visited recently.  I found it interesting and unusual in my experience how the temperature and weather could vary so rapidly.


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Ooooh wee, look at you!  All young and purdy and I remember seeing your dog before.  Looks like a good one.

I did grow up military. My father died in service as an Army Ranger and my mom was in the army literally my entire childhood. I hadn't lived away from a military post until I was 23. I prefer the structure of the military lifestyle so I prefer living in Cove to Austin. After so much structure Austin is too... wild for me. It is too hippy, too out there weird. I do like the politics in Austin because they are more open minded I just can't do the physical city. Central Texas was in drought for 7 years and then the past two springs were all water. I don't like it. I prefer the dry heat but I reckon we kinda hafta have water to drink so I won't complain too much. The high today is 100F so I'm happy now.

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Also that is my little sister. I love photography so I make my sisters go on 'photo shoots' lol

hiccup

Got to get in the swing of things.  I'm loving everyone's photos from where they live.  So here are photos of and/or from my town of Berkeley.

Someone else's superior night time photo looking to San Francisco from my side of the bay.




Heidi frolicking at low tide at our local dog park.  




Someone's superior evening shot of my town from up in the hills looking past the Campanile, the most recognizable building in Berkeley on the UC campus.




One of the things I appreciate about my town is its willingness to laugh at itself, as shown here in the "How Berkeley Can You Be?" parade.




And we've got 'characters' including the burly guy with Tourette's syndrome who goes by "Rawr", Naked Guy and - pictured here- Pink Man.  This guy will roll into bars and sing his songs as well as tool around town and on campus.




Then there are lots of parks along the East Bay hills, including Tilden shown here, above my town.  I took this one back when Fletch was still around, with Heidi.

 


Here in Tilden, while the town of Berkeley is under low clouds or fog, it will often be sunny.  My photo.




Our botanical garden has the reputation for being the one with the greatest number of species, and it is a great place to view fauna as well as flora.




I live on this block of this street.  On the left are only warehouses, on the right houses and apartments.  We live just a little further down in the littlest warehouse, the one between two vacant lots.  The one lot is my garden.  The other is the Berkeley Youth Alternatives community orchard.  Behind the row of warehouses is Strawberry park, occupying the land where the Santa Fe RR used to pass through.  Aren't the overhead power and telephone lines ugly?  




Finally here is a shot taken by someone else in Strawberry Creek park. You can just see my the top of my (grey) building above the pink warehouse in the foreground.




Y'all come see me now, ya hear?

(July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: I did grow up military. My father died in service as an Army Ranger and my mom was in the army literally my entire childhood.

Very sorry for your loss but I'm sure you're proud of him.

(July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: I hadn't lived away from a military post until I was 23. I prefer the structure of the military lifestyle so I prefer living in Cove to Austin.

I can relate but as soon as I got away I never wanted to go back, though I might have felt differently if my father had been a fallen war hero. As a boy I got the standard military haircuts until I got to high school. As soon as I got out on my own I grew my hair as long as it would go, you know, in rebellion and to celebrate my freedom. Now I'm back to wearing it short, celebrating my freedom from all that hot, stuffy, inconvenient hair.

(July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: After so much structure Austin is too... wild for me. It is too hippy, too out there weird. I do like the politics in Austin because they are more open minded I just can't do the physical city.

Berkeley is tame compared to San Francisco but far more hippy. We like to complain that the money which should go to fixing our war zone streets is going instead to maintaining sister city relations with ever single country on the planet. I've already complained about retiring to a college town so I won't go there again. Building codes are very tight, tough when you live in a 100 year old warehouse.

(July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: Central Texas was in drought for 7 years and then the past two springs were all water. I don't like it. I prefer the dry heat but I reckon we kinda hafta have water to drink so I won't complain too much. The high today is 100F so I'm happy now.

We've had a pretty bad drought the last few years too. Looking forward to a good flood .. some day. If the low clouds burn off we may yet get above 70 today, a good day to do things.

(July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: Also that is my little sister. I love photography so I make my sisters go on 'photo shoots' lol

Assuming they're of age, feel free to share the other photos in Area 69.

(July 7, 2016 at 2:53 pm)Whateverist the White Wrote: Very sorry for your loss but I'm sure you're proud of him.

I can relate but as soon as I got away I never wanted to go back, though I might have felt differently if my father had been a fallen war hero.  As a boy I got the standard military haircuts until I got to high school.  As soon as I got out on my own I grew my hair as long as it would go, you know, in rebellion and to celebrate my freedom.  Now I'm back to wearing it short, celebrating my freedom from all that hot, stuffy, inconvenient hair.

Assuming they're of age, feel free to share the other photos in Area 69.  

I am very proud of him but more so my mother. She did everything he did army wise (well to a degree since she wasn't a ranger but she was Calvary) plus she raised three daughters, kept house, and took care of bills. She retired after 23 years but still works on Ft. Hood as a civilian. I never rebelled except to tell my ex I wouldn't be an military wife because I wouldn't be separated from my family. Being an army brat I have only seen my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc about 3 times in my life. As sad as this is I wouldn't be exactly beside myself if they passed. I refuse to have that with my children and they -will- know their extended family. I do so love the rest of military life though.

You are very naughty and I will pass on sharing their photo shoots ;p

Thank you for posting those pictures; they are all stunning! I knew it was pretty out your way but that was wonderful to see first hand pictures from someone that lives there! To think you live in such an old building! The oldest buildings here are all museums due to there not being many of them (Texas independence caused quite the war and destroyed more than a few things) I love the idea of living in an old warehouse!