New Beginning, New Outlook

Zoning prohibits me from getting a cow. This saddens me.

As some may be aware, I recently made the move out to Ellensburg, Washington. As expected things are a bit different out here. If I may, some initial perceptions I have of my new place of residence:

1. Spellcheck doesn't recognize my existence.

It's a bit strange to move to a place which computer programs assume you have spelled wrong. These angry red dots tell me I'm incorrect, when in reality all I'm trying to do is share about my new home. Apparently small-town Washington isn't fancy enough for the likes of Apple. They even have the audacity to suggest no spelling corrections, as though the name of my new town is so ridiculous they can't even try to correct my obvious failure.

2. I live in a country song.

On my drive out to church (which is about ten minutes outside of Ellensburg proper) I happened to glance off to the side of my car and see a certain field. My first thought, I kiddeth not, was "that looks like a field someone would walk through in a music video for a country song while contemplating some tragic circumstance." Something tells me the local music scene out here is going to be a bit different than in Bellingham.

3. Most of the town closes at 6pm.

Though it's nice of them to stay open for people getting off work, this seems odd for a college town. I'm going to assume this is just a reflection of a student culture which enjoys retiring to their rooms after dinner and quietly working on there homework while listening to smooth jazz. Yeah. College students totally do that.

As I thought about these initial impressions, a question came into existence:

Why are these my first thoughts about this place?

If I were to describe the tone of the above list in a word, I think "snarky" would fit the bill. As an initial reaction, I subconsciously chose to be critical of this new place, to point out the things that were different, especially if they seemed to be different in a negative way.

Why, for example, did I choose not to notice how friendly everyone is here? Not a single person has failed to ask me personal questions about what brought me to Ellensburg as soon as they discover I am new in town. Moreover, why is my first instinct to make fun of the country song field as opposed to remarking at how strangely beautiful wheat is as it blows back and forth in the wind?

I've come to realize that my opinion of this new place is completely dependent on what I choose to see. I can love this place or choose to criticize it, and that's largely up to me. Sure, some places are just bad, even if that is only because of personal preference. It seems, though, that we (or at least I) might have a tendency to make a place worse than it deserves.

In light of this, how will we choose to see how our new settings? How will we look at that new campus? That new abode? That new community? We choose to have a certain opinion. What if we chose to have a different one?

With God's love and grace,

Taylor