A couple of Facebook sites

Much as I love Galesburg, I know that the secret to living in a small town where you see the same things every day, is to find escapes, mentally at least, and go around the world. I lived happily in Carbondale for eighteen years mainly because my international students brought me fresh perspectives every day, and ways of looking at things that I wouldn't ordinarily dream of. It's in that spirit that I bring you two sites that I really enjoy. The more I like their posts, the more I keep seeing them in my feed, and that's sustaining me these days.

The first is "view from my window." I got about ten or a dozen views from various people's front windows tonight, so I got a tour around the world. Europe, India, Hong Kong, various places. I find it amazing that some people live downtown in huge cities, while others live so far out there that they can't move in a good snowstorm. You get them all here. And that's right: I plan to put Galesburg on it. Why not? I'll have to take a good photo from my window, which is basically Broad Street, but I think it'll do fine. It's not Alaska, or Norway, or Hong Kong, but it's different. Well, different from those anyway. I like it here, and I'm happy. Why not show it?

The second one is "Walk 50 miles with your dog in March". It is a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; you couldn't find a better cause. But what's cool about it is the same as the last one: you see people from all over, every day. Alaska, Montana, Nevada, you name it. But they're always happy, and their dogs are clearly happy too. Nothing's happier than a dog that just went on a two or three-mile hike. You can just see it in their faces.

Now I haven't joined them, or given them money, or asked my friends to do so, but I could very easily because as I said, it's a totally worthy cause. My dogs are happy. Not tonight; it was too cold, and I stayed in. But most nights, I give them each about a mile so I could easily get 50 total for March if I could count all three of them. And same, I wouldn't mind sharing my picture. Me with a happy smile, any of the three dogs, happy as they are. Maybe I could pose in front of the spirituality.com sign on Broad and Losey.

It helps, sometimes, when you're feeling a little confined (I don't get out to the woods enough), to just have some cool stuff in your feed.