Pride

No, not that kind, that was June.  Pride, satisfaction, happiness, gratification, fulfillment, contentment; whatever you want to call it.  It's a good feeling, even if fleeting.  I've felt a bit of that lately, as I sat by the fire last night I looked around me and just appreciated it all.

My wife and I have a nice house, if small, that's in pretty good shape and we've made some good improvements, inside and out, so far.  We have an exceptional lawn for the area, as it was when we bought it so I've maintained that, which does take some doing.  The gardens and flowerbeds are looking good and the compost bin I built with just a vague plan to start is still holding up great and looking good.  The garage is stuffed full but well organized so even I can usually get 3/4 way around the car to get to anything anytime.  The firepit and wood rack have been a great addition to the yard and got me out of the house and outside much more during a pandemic, and still, obviously.  We live on a nice street and though the street itself is getting a little rough in spots the neighborhood is nice, calm and family-oriented.  And in a good part of town, on the bike path to easily get to other parts of town or as far as you're willing to walk or bike.  The city itself has many outstanding features that are unique, including the middle of the city is our state capitol building on an isthmus.

And, well, now Livability rated Madison as the best place to live in the US for a second year in a row.  The link is a quick read, points out some highlights and numbers.  Not that I take a whole lot of stock in the ranking, whatever number, but to consistently be on lists like these, it must be a pretty good place.  A related article here points out lots more of those lists, and more of the varied features of the city that are too numerous for me to try to list here.

It's easy to take for granted.  We live here every day, this is normal to us.  But realizing you have it pretty good in a pretty good place feels pretty damn good, sometimes.  I like to ignore the weight of the world in those moments, and just be proud of what we have.  And that's okay.