My Hometown

You may have noticed that I was absent this past week. Last Wednesday, I took my family to the great metropolitan Quad Cities for a mini-vacation. That's right, I voluntarily went to Iowa for a vacation in February. Don't ask me why, it's a long story. Fortunately I get to make up for it in April when I go to Cancun. While in Iowa, I was reminded on numerous occasions just why I don't live there anymore, thus the inspiration for today's list.

6. My friends: The close friends that I still talk to are all gone. There still remains a couple of people there that I would happily get together with, but for the most part, they have all gone away and spread themselves across the country. I completely understand why as the next 5 reasons will explain.

5. Too cold: As I have gotten older, my tolerance for snot freezing cold weather has gotten lower and lower. I simply cannot stand the ice cold weather there. And it wasn't even that cold this past week. It's just colder than what it is in Louisville. Ugh, I need to move to Arizona.

4. No jobs: Because I am currently at a crossroads in my professional life, I notice the job outlook in various places. The great city of Davenport currently has a pretty crappy outlook on the employment front. Then again, so does everywhere else. But it seems to glare at me everytime I go there whether I have a job or not.

3. Western Davenport: Holy cow! I drive through the West end of the city and it looks vacant. Businesses are closed, people are moving, and my great alma mater is a joke. It seems to get worse and worse every time I go there.

2. Parks: Living in Louisville, I have grown accustomed to great parks. I'm serious, if you ever get the chance to come to Louisville, the parks here are one of the few reasons why I love this place (notice I said few). When I go to my hometown, the parks stink. There is one really good park in the entire place and that is in Bettendorf. Outside of that, the playgrounds are old and dirty and I feel I need to give my kids a tetanus shot when they are done. And outside of Scott County Park, there is really no place to go for walks. As someone with a couple of boys that love going to parks, I got to say Davenport stinks.

1. It's depressing: Whenever I drive around the city, a sudden depression comes over me. I"m not sure if it's just one of the previous reasons or a combination of all, but whenever I come there, I can't wait go get back home. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to visit my wonderful family and friends, but outside of that, I have absolutely no reason to go there. Oh well, it's like the saying goes, you can never home.