Anyways, it was another lonely, boring night in Livingston led me to Netflix. Since I've come to Livingston I've known Anthony filmed an episode here. I've seen his autograph in Pinky's while grabbing lunch. So on this boring night I finally decided to check his Livingston episode out. While scanning seasons to find the that particular episode I came across one he filmed in Cleveland. Longing for any glimpse
of my hometown I miss so dearly, I had to watch. Seeing/reading/hearing anything positive about Cleveland from an outsider always makes my heart smile. But that's not the point of my post, so I must move on. I could talk Cleveland all day.
After watching the Cleveland episode I moved on to the Livingston one which couldn't have been a more accurate illustration of where I currently reside. The beautiful scenery. Trout fishing. Dining on wild game. And of course the Murray Bar (one of my favorite establishments in town).
Watching this two episodes in succession really made think about something I've never thought about before. To someone who hasn't lived in both these place they would seem totally opposite, but living in Cleveland and Livingston has made me realize they are not as different as most people may think.
Yes the landscape is quite different. Livingston has mountains, miles upon miles of open field, and big sky. Cleveland has skyscrapers, concrete, and gray clouds, but now I see the parallels of both. And in my eyes both places are beautiful.
Cleveland's mountains are old steel mills and empty factories mixed with more modern buildings like Key Tower. Its fields are concrete parking lots, streets, and sidewalks. Its big sky is covered by gray clouds a majority of the time.
Just in the same Livingston's skyscrapers are the mountains, its concrete is prairie grass, and its gray clouds take the form of 40 mile and hour winds.
Both places are products of big industry and have suffered from that industry dying. In Cleveland it was the steel industry and in Livingston is was the railroads. The exodus of both these industries have lead to many negative aspects such as environmental pollution, emigration, and increased rates of poverty. But through all
the hardships people in both Cleveland and Livingston have remained resilient and this resiliency has spurred creativity, innovation, and new sources of economic revenue.
The people in both Cleveland and Livingston are those of a proud type not to be mistaken with pretentious or boastful. They are the real deal. What you see is what you get. No one is pretending to be someone they are not. This is something I value greatly in people I choose to associate with and I've had no problem finding it within a majority of the people I've met it both places.
I want to thank Anthony Bourdain for profiling both these places that I love on his show. Without him I would have never been able to realize just how similar these two different places I've lived in are. His show served as inspiration late tonight. And
while it nears midnight out here I've come to realize when inspiration strikes you must harness it as fast as you can because it can leave your quickly. I harness my inspiration in this blog and until I find a better outlet to do this, blogging will have to suffice.
As I mentioned I wrote this post late, so don't judge any extra spelling or grammer mistakes...I'm tired. Goodnight.
I <3 CLE & I <3 LIV
Love,
Becky
