I can honestly say I am in love with two places. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed other areas or seen enough cities, towns, nature, or what have you. And the locations from my childhood are hard to love because the memories are all fuzzy, like waking up from a dream and trying to remember details. The first time I had even given the concept of loving a place any thought was when I was looking at colleges. Everyone kept saying to me, "Oh when I walked on such and such campus I just KNEW! I LOVED THE PLACE!" Really? You set one foot on a strange college campus and fell instantly in love? Ok, fine maybe it does work that way for some people but not me. First time I set foot on NCC's campus I thought, "this place is stupid." Even after fours years I felt more or less the same way about Naperville and NCC's campus (this feeling has nothing to do with the people I met there).
I think you all know where I'm going with this...I am unequivocally in love with Boston. DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DID YA? Jokes people. And hey this didn't happen instantly and when I realized I was in love with Boston I was shocked...I didn't even really see how much I loved it until my mother pointed it out. The first time I set foot in Boston I was scared shitless, for a couple reasons. I was scared of the whole NF2 thing and because it was so different, so strange of a place, and it happened to be pouring rain. The people there spoke funny and all of them are HORRIBLE at giving directions. Seriously, I can't even begin to count how many times I've ended up lost because of the natives. After a few frightful trips to the city a funny thing happened...I started to really feel the city. Being there was a breath of fresh air in a time of suffocation. It was an odd sensation, here was this city that should represent all the pain in my life and I was reveling in the atmosphere. The history of the city is simply beautiful and I am constantly learning new things about it. It's so difficult to describe how I feel about the city but I'm hooked. I've been going there almost 5 years now and just the thought of my next visit excites me. I've met some amazing people there and I've seen some awesome things. I always feel most alive there, like every one of my senses is on high alert (well my hearing is on as high alert as it can go...JOKES AGAIN). I will quit talking about the city and show you some pictures:
The second place I am in love with...well it's complicated. I love...sigh...I can't believe I'm saying this...Downs. I really do guys. And maybe I'm not in love with it the way I am with Boston but I love it. How could I not? Fifteen years of my life have been in that place. I grew up there. It's everything. And I didn't always love it. What high schooler loves their hometown? Please. I was the typical 18 year old who couldn't wait to get away. But then coming back to it...it was home, plain and simple. Downs gave me Tri-Valley and best friends and basketball and horses and Friday night football games and the best childhood ever.
And maybe now you're confused because um hello I completely up and left this place I'm claiming to love so much. That's where it's complicated and honestly I don't have to justify my decision to leave...Downs gets it and it'll always be there if or when I'm ready to come back.
So there it is. The two places I'm for real in love with. I can't wait to add others to this list.
And maybe I've done the worst job ever of describing this feeling or maybe you know exactly what I mean...once again it doesn't matter because this is my blog so obviously it's perfect.
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