a capital living

I have lived in five state capitals so far in my life.  By lived, I mean either with my family, in school, or renting and earning wages.  Interestingly, I have only lived six different places and the one which is not a state capital is the one where I was born and lived only little more than a year.  Of the other five, all of them were a place where there was no professional football, basketball, or hockey team, though one of the places now has a hockey team and that same one developed a professional soccer team while I was inhabiting.  Of them, two of them are above 700,000 population and the other three were about 350,000 or less.  I have visited each of their capitol buildings, driven amongst their landscapes and as such, have gotten lost on their crowded highways.

Maybe it is because I have moved into its center or maybe because I have had the time and the ability to enjoy its atmosphere but Austin is by far the most enjoyable capital that I have lived. Its lazy culture and lively music make it a contradiction yet comfortable in the state where it resides. Its state capitol, one of my life's little pleasures, is the best in the country and epitomizes the unofficial state motto by being larger than our nation's capitol. I see the changes planned for this city and look forward to watching it persist and better itself. There is so much to do, you can not do it all and there is so much for your general enjoyment that it makes you wonder why anyone would criticize about anything, besides the weather of course.  While I do not participate in its politics or understand its drive for being the biggest or most independent, the city has captured me with its romantic Texan history and landscapes.  I will never be a Texan and have no desire to become one but I feel more settled than I have in some time and that is a comforting thought.