Homesick Hike

OK, it's finally hit me. The first couple weeks of school everything was so new and exciting that I could kind of forget that I had just picked up and moved myself away from everything and nearly everyone familiar. It took a while, but after 12 years Boston is definitely the place I call home. Who would have guessed it? Not me. In fact, I like to tell a story about visiting my Aunt Wendy and her family in Boston when I was about 10 years old. At the time I remember having the distinct thought, "I will never live here." Funny. I think that at the time it just seemed so different from my midwestern home of Ann Arbor, Michigan that I couldn't imagine settling there. And because I moved to Boston for a dude it just took a while for me to claim the place as my own. But you know what did it? The Cape. The ocean. I love the ocean. And now I really can't imagine living far away from a giant, salty body of water. Not to mention the fact that I have built an incredible community of friends and support there over the past decade plus. So despite the many wonderful people I have met since moving to Brattleboro, and the few Boston friends who came here with me, I have been feeling a little homesick this past week.

So, when Elizabeth called me on Sunday to say that she, Andy and a cadre of friends from Weston were in Amherst for a day hike I cancelled my other plans and drove there as quick as my little Honda would allow (look ma, no speeding ticket!). It was really wonderful being enveloped in a sea of familiarity and caring all day long. Everyone generously listened to me blab on and on about school. They obligingly asked lots of questions and oohed and ahhed at all the right moments. Thanks guys! Below is a pic of me and Elizabeth from our day on the mountain (Holyoke Range I believe).

Happy 100,000 miles little Honda!!!
Here's to 100,000 more!

P.S. On my way down to Amherst my car turned 100,000 miles old. I pulled over and took a pic to mark the occasion.