Answers to the question of the day: "Why do we live here?"

Like sand through the hourglass.....

A big steaming bowl of Jimmy's homemade chicken dumpling soup for lunch today complete with Days of our Lives and Wifi from Riverside Coffee in the smokeless (chewin' still allowed) 56572 Pool Hall. Doggybag the ambience. All the above for $1.90. AYCD Decaf available for $.75.

The following is a reply from someone new to 56572: Psychologist Christianne Michelle Lysne Ph.D. (profiled in this week's Pelican Press)

Christianne lives in Oscar Township and has an office in Cooper Stewart's building at 54 1st St NW in 56572.

“Why do we live here?” or so asked The Forum in today’s newspaper I’m told. 56572 asked me if I was interested in responding to that question and I enthusiastically answered, “Yes!”

I’m not sure exactly why (and I mean this in reference to why my “yes!” was so enthusiastic, not in response to the question of why I live here).

I KNOW exactly why I live here, and can, with some consideration, come up with answers why others would chose to do the same. I grew up in a rather large town known widely for its glamorous lifestyle and movie stars, but in reality what I remember most is a lot of smog, traffic, poverty and crime, a far cry from the image that comes to the minds of most when they hear Los Angeles.

I remember 80 degree Christmas Days where my mother and I would be stuck in heavy traffic on the 405 freeway and though I’d never known anything different, something about the whole thing just felt wrong to me.

Perhaps because of my big city upbringing, I was drawn to shows like Little House on the Prairie. Call me a nerd, but there was something very enchanting about those shows. There was something incredibly comforting to me about living in a place that where people would recognize your face and smile and wave as they passed you on the street.

I loved the idea of seasons and looking forward to Spring, sunshine and warmth, especially because you had endured a long season of snow and cold. And there was something incredibly beautiful to my imagination about snowy Christmas days and drinking hot chocolate after being outside way too long.

So, I’ll admit that it hasn’t turned out to be exactly as I planned. Right around March, I start to get really sick of Winter, and thoughts of warm tropical beaches fill my head. I also hate how muddy my driveway is in Mid May and curse the wood ticks as they start to feed off my flesh. Oh...and of course, there’s always the curse of the mosquito which comes along with the bountiful water that we live near.

But all in all, I have to say that these little (or large) inconveniences, as you care to see them, are well worth it to me.

I live in a place where I don’t have to panic too much if I forget to lock the doors on my car. I get to work in a place where I see a beautiful river winding past my window, and in the spring and summer time, I’m lucky enough to see the migration of lots of beautiful birds near my home. Outside my window last Spring, I saw a huge flock of pelicans descending into our lake. Call me a sentimentalist, but it took my breath away.

Did I miss L.A. in that moment? Hardly.

Right now in my life, there’s no other place I’d rather be.