I'm still clearly in the "honeymoon period" w.r.t. my new town. I just love it.
Sometimes it's the Little Things. Like how the primary mode of transportation is the bicycle. You are actually penalized to some extent for living in the Centrum of Leiden and having a car. To park it, you have to get a permit, which costs 40 Euros a quarter for the first car, and 80 Euros per quarter for the second car. It is a policy clearly aimed at reducing the amount of auto traffic and presence within Leiden, and it is clearly working. Living here, a car is superfluous. I still have my old but eternal Peugeot 306, but it will probably remain sitting in its parking space for the full duration of my first parking permit. I will probably never need it. Everything I need is within walking or biking distance, and both walking and biking are more fun than driving. It's sort of a no-brainer. If this happens, and I wind up not needing my car for a full quarter of the year, I will most likely sell the car. My story is kinda normal around here. Now compare it to the story of moving to a new community in most places in the United States. In how many of them could you live a quality life without a car? One of the reasons that I enjoy staying in touch with the Fairfield community is that I sense that -- should the shit hit the fan and autos not really be as avail- able or affordable as they are today -- you could prob- ably get by, and comfortably, without a car in Fairfield. I like that in a town. I could say that about several of the places I've lived, including tiny little Sauve, France, or much larger Sitges, Spain, or even larger still Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's really *neat* to live in a town that you can live in successfully and comfortably without a car. All of that said, the "takeaway" I have from my walk tonight is still the silence. On foot, on a bicycle, or probably even in a car, this is one of the most *silent* burbs I've ever lived in. Whatever is going on on the surface of life -- dogs barking, the rare car horn honking, party boats on the river blaring tasteless music at high volumes -- *whatever*, the silence is still there. It's like there is nothing in the environment that can *overshadow* the silence. I have no explanation for how this could be, only that it seems to be.
