I knew, before moving here, that I would like Brooklyn. But I didn’t expect to be quite so taken by it. Growing up in suburbia readied me for city-life in Boston when I started college. Because the college didn’t really fit, I moved out to another in the country. Because I was afraid of the city after being surrounded by farmland, we settled in Beverly. A busy, ocean-side suburb. Despite my excitement about moving to New York and all the things it offered, I was scared I would hate the city. But I don’t. And this part of Brooklyn doesn’t feel very city-like.

Our apartment (which I love more with every day), is in the Southern part of Park Slope. There are a few businesses on the main drags, but our immediate area is mostly residential. Just a few blocks North lies a whole world of million dollar brownstones and many shops and restaurants. Another few blocks Northeast lies Prospect Park, verdant and glorious. We went for a run in the Park yesterday and it was so wonderful to be entirely isolated from the city.

If you traced a one-mile circle around our house, you would find so many different kinds of places. I walked over to the Farmers Market at Prospect Park West and 15th St. today, and from there to a grocery store in the heart of Windsor Terrace. The area is completely residential, and strangely like the suburb in which I grew up. Cars lined the narrow streets of houses with porches and windowboxes. There were hanging plants everywhere and elderly folk walking carefully along the streets. It looked like a completely different place than where we live and it’s just 3 avenues over. I’ll take some pictures for you soon.

It’s so fascinating to explore a whole new world. I’m glad I have the time and energy to do it before I start working in September.