Saturday, November 11, 2006

The grass always seems greener...

G'day, mates!

I just returned from an exciting trip to Brisbane, Australia! Put that on your list of things to do, would ya? I had a great time. The climate was great, the people were great, the city -- in my opinion -- was great. Lots of culture, shops, history, beaches... There I sat in marvel of what I thought was a really cool city, and even as I marveled over it, I am told by several young people how they want to leave Brisbane and Australia because there's nothing to do !!! And while I was sitting in Brisbane going "wow", it occured to me that much of what I was "marveling" at was actually available in my own home town, or fairly close thereto. It seems that when we live someplace, we take so much for granted and never really appreciate what we have locally.

On the flight leaving Syracuse I was fortunate enough to sit next to a wonderful young lady who was returning to Detroit. She told me what a fabulous time she had while visiting here in Syracuse and Skaneateles, and she and a number of her girl friends come here several times a year for a "girls road trip" sort of thing. Syracuse!? not Boston or NYC, but little ole Syracuse! while I'm sitting around asking myself what there is to do here!

Well... clearly... I haven't been paying attention and taking advantage of what "is" available to me right here at home. A few weeks ago I wrote an article that asked, "what do they see through your eyes?" I guess that applies just as much to our local surroundings as it does to how people see themselves through our eyes. Someone else thinks my city is wonderful ! so, perhaps I need to see my city through "their" eyes. I always tell people when you go to a new place, to find someone who likes it there, and get THEM to show them around. People who like it there will show it to you through different eyes than someone who doesn't like it there. So in yet another situation, it comes down to attitude! If you want to find a good time, then you will look for and find it. If you're negative on the place, then your mind won't let you see the great stuff.

So... I guess I'll take a look at some of those brochures and magazines put out by the local tourist industry and see what there is around here that I need to be excited about. Maybe you need to do the same thing for your neighborhood, eh?

Let's give it a shot. I'm open to suggestion!

Cheers! No worries, mates! See you around town!

Aussie Kelvin

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post! By the way, since you asked, the Everson Museum stays open late on Thursday nights, just so business people can come by and check it out. They used to always close at 5PM, which means many exhibits never got seen, because few people would come back into the city on weekends. So, there you go!