Tomorrow I fly to Cincinnati, where I'll spend the week doing client work. Then I go to Durham for my Fuqua reunion. I've been to Seattle three times in the past two months, Boston/Connecticut last week, and next week I'll be in a small town on the Baja Peninsula. I signed up for a 10-day canyoneering trek in September through Outward Bound. Over memorial day I'm going with business school friends to Yosemite for the weekend. I'll be in DC and then immediately to Durham for weddings in early June. Wow. I say this to point out that this year I'm getting to see a lot of different places, and everywhere I go I think "is this for me?". I'll be honest - I am very happy living in San Francisco. It's a good life. BUT, being able to see all of these different places in quick succession has me thinking about my natural state... Where is my home turf? Where am I most myself? I think this is an important question to answer, and act upon.
When I was in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, I took the super shuttle from Kentucky (where the airport is) into "the Nati.". I could feel it... The feeling was different. It felt familiar to what I know. When I got to the hotel, I immediately jetted off for a run through the university of Cincinnati campus. Weather was warm, sidewalks were plentiful, and it was quiet. Hm. Big rush.
A couple months ago I went to Oakland to and out with Lloyd, a friend from college. We went out to a place called the "Missouri Lounge"... True dive bar. We walked there from a totally normal Mexican restaurant... No pretension. When I came back to Lower Haight later that night, i noticed, and FELT a) more people walking around, and b) hipsters. Dare I say that I preferred the "realness" of Oakland?
Connecticut last week. I took the train from Boston down to Mystic, CT, where grandma lives. I tried to work on the train, but couldn't help but stare out the window. What might otherwise pass as mundane - patches of trees, back yards, even empty lots (now that I mention it, ESPECIALLY empty lots)... Again, it felt more like home. Felt right. I get the same feeling when I'm taking the Link train from the Seattle airport into downtown.
Last example for today - the suburbs. Yes, the suburbs. I grew up in them. I know that people don't like them. There are indeed aspects of the burbs that I grew tired of. No doubt about it. I don't think I want to live in the burbs, but a place like Durham... Hmmm. Even a neighborhood with small back or front yards would do.
Am I glorifying the small(er) town? Or is there something to these thoughts? I wrote all of this while on the bike at a gym, instead of outside enjoying my own neighborhood, so maybe I'm full of it. But I don't think I am.
By the way, Neil Young's still got it: check out "walk with me".
