It's been interesting living in a city this past year, since I spent the previous five years (save for a three-month stint in Santa Fe, NM) in a town of less than 4,000 residents, way out in upstate New York. The two wage an ongoing battle for my affections. Who will ultimately emerge victorious?
Round 1: Wildlife.
I was talking with some friends today about wildlife in the city. City animals tend to be smaller (obviously) than those in the country, but much more menacing, in my mind. I guess I have this idea that it takes a tough squirrel / rat / pigeon to make it in the city. Cars, bikes, buses, pedestrians, all sorts of things trying to run you down. Few trees. Lots of dogs.
This opinion was recently confirmed when I had an unpleasant run-in with a city-hardened bird. As I was walking past the theater one evening, a pigeon--outwardly like any other, but inwardly carrying some sort of grudge that I must have unwittingly triggered--ran toward me, then suddenly took flight and hovered threateningly over my head for several seconds as I, alarmed, cowered and tried to get away. It was so close that I could feel the air from its wings blowing my hair around. Eeeeeeeeegh. It then chased me for several yards down the sidewalk. And disappeared back into the night.
That's not to say that wildlife encounters don't get intense in the country, too. But, I mean, just look at the lamb in that picture. Do you see that kind of thing at the city bus stop in the morning? Or in front of Starbucks? No. Killer pigeons, that's what you see.
Country: 1
City: 0
