Science

Sometimes they pass right over my house.

I also live about 30 feet from the nearest tangle of poison oak. That open space belongs to the city and is left fairly wild. We see all sorts of birds, lizards, and other wildlife here.

Our neighborhood is a mix single family homes and apartments and the population density is quite high for this sort of housing. Many families have three generations living under one roof, which has been a common way of life throughout human history.

Our own children moved away, not to less densely populated areas, but to bigger cities. Nobody can claim cities are not attractive places to live when so many people choose to live there.

The thing I find most stressful about modern life is driving. If we got rid of most of the automobile traffic, in both city and the countryside, the world would be a much nicer place. I feel like I've spent too many hours of my life trapped inside of automobiles.