Big Masshole Energy
Remember when I felt like Boston and I had more in our complicated story? Well, I hate to say it, but we’re writing some new chapters. These chapters are going to be as long as the New England winter, as discombobulating as an unmarked rotary, and filled with the rage that possesses every driver on these one way streets.
It’s clear that I have a flair for the dramatic. We both know that already. The paragraph above is an exquisite example. The truth is, I don’t like it here. It’s almost like I’m on borrowed time. I won’t be here long enough for it to be home, and this city belongs to someone else. I don’t know when, or if, I’ll ever stop feeling like an outsider.
For all it’s quirks, DC felt like mine. Of course there was an acclimation period, but I always felt like I was on solid ground.
Boston is shaky. Every time I go outside, I almost always end up under a highway. I’m never more religious than when I get behind the wheel. Carrie Underwood has nothing on me. I greet people in my neighborhood, I get grimaces back. I haven’t found a coffee shop I like. The great white shark population is out of control. It’s already hard to make friends as an adult, it’s harder when you’re surrounded by people who’ve been here longer than you and will be here long after you’ve left. I’m just a blip - a temporary deviation from a general trend.
It’s not all bad. I love the house I live in. It’s beautiful and welcoming, although it very well could be haunted. I love coming home to roommates and laughing in the kitchen or comforting each other with waffles after a particularly long week. I found a walking trail. I’ve taken to calling it “my pond.” I wander for hours, ignoring all responsibilities and just asking to get lost. I like my graduate program, most of my classes being online this semester. I have friends that I don’t make time for (I’m sorry), and I’m on the brink of making new ones in my program.
I’m learning how to honk at people. My Texas driving skills have helped me through aggressive highway merges. I bought winter boots. Autumn was kind of nice - all 3 weeks of it. I’m going to stop calling the T, the metro… eventually. I have more to say, but I have a feeling that most of you have dropped off already. I’ll end with this:
This place is full of promise, I just have to make the decision to commit.
