Carlyle, Illinois. Land of Awesome.

So we are living out of boxes, preparing to move.  Krissy, myself, and two cats have lived in Carlyle, Illinois for 4.5 years now.  We're moving to Aviston, and should be completely uprooted from Carlyle on Friday (speaking of which, if you want to take off work to lift things for no pay and no benefits, let me know.  There might be a hug and a free lunch in it for you).

To commemorate my departure from Carlyle, I'm going to list the awesome things about Carlyle, Illinois.  There's the normal things we'll miss, like great neighbors, good friends, having a Dairy Queen right up the street . . . but I'm going to tell you a few of the "under the radar" things that Carlyle has to offer.

TOP 5 RANDOMLY AWESOME THINGS ABOUT CARLYLE, IL

1 - Disposal Proficiency - The trash company that services Carlyle must be commended.  Those guys will take anything.  Bagged, not bagged, doesn't matter.  Also, if you have to dispose of something big, like a washer or an old television, just put it on the curb.  Carlyle possesses magical junk fairies that will invisibly remove those junk items before the super trashmen even come on Monday mornings.  If for some reason you have something that is left behind on trash day, I have a friend who gave me an amazing tip.  "If you put a sign that says free on it, it'll sit for days, but if you put a sign on it that says twenty bucks, it won't last the night."  As for leaves, you can make a huge pile and burn them.  Incredibly fun and convenient.

2 - Lack of Stop Signs - You don't have to worry about rolling stop signs in the part of town where I live, because there are no stop or yield signs at the intersections.  The downside is that I've seen three accidents, but nothing serious.  Come to think of it, no stop signs is the opposite of awesome and should be fixed immediately.  

3 - Carlyle Lake - You know who gets to say they live in the home of the largest manmade lake in Illinois where Fred Venturini used to work?  The residents of Carlyle, that's who.  

4 - The Phoenix Hardee's - I love thickburgers.  I used to eat at Hardee's in Carlyle until the sad day I headed for the drivethrough and the building was closed.  This tragedy lasted for lord knows how long until the incredibly good news that the Hardee's would rise again and open its doors once more.  You know the saying you don't know what you have until it's gone?  That's how I feel about Carlyle Hardee's, and now, in a turn of events that can only be called poetic justice, I'm the one leaving the resilient Hardee's behind.  

5 - Weather Radar Friendly - Because it's on a lake that bears its namesake, I have found that Carlyle is easy to find on those weather radars when they pop up on the local news.  Meteorologists will often mention Carlyle by name.  When there is bad weather, I can look for that little blister of water on the map and see exactly where I am without having to squint. 

I'm sad to say goodbye to Carlyle, but the good news is, I'm still really close, so I can come and visit the zombie Hardee's, fly through intersections, drop my trash off in the alleys, visit my friends at the lake, and I should still be able to find Aviston (our new home) because it's still pretty close to the lake landmark on weather radars.

Goodbye, Carlyle.  You have many awesome traits and the history of my life will always be intertwined with you.