Boston, Revisited
I’m back on the bus, returning from a trip to Boston to say hello and goodbye to some amazing friends in my life. Sean, the guy mostly responsible for putting the bug in my ear regarding grad school, is off to Germany to continue to work on his art, and as far as I understand, will be there, in Berlin, for ten solid months. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, and frankly, I’d have been a fool not to come down and wish him well and safe travels. So, that’s just what I did.
I also revisited some others that I hadn’t seen in a while. Friends who I have met via Sean, actually, and a couple that I met on my own when I lived here. Coming back to see them was easy. Coming back to the city that I have recently evacuated? A little strange. The familiarity is still there – I know how to navigate my way around. The damn T still has delays and barely runs on Sundays. The Red Sox played ball – twice. The seaport area smells nothing like the sea. Mission Hill is still overrun with college kids on a mission to get drunk. The fens are still pretty. The geese still poop. A lot.
Nothing’s really changed. Well, not exactly. Something has. I have. It was said more than once to me that I looked better, that I seemed happier, that I was more relaxed (with a little more relaxation still to accomplish). The harried, scared look that seemed to be a permanent fixture on my face has since been replaced with a little more placidity, a little more calm. At least, that’s what I was told. It felt nice to have these things noticed because, frankly, it’s been a real effort to calm myself down, to really get back into my own skin. Sometimes, the efforts do pay off.
I was able to get some serious writing done on Saturday as I was waiting for Sean to finish up at the camera shop. What was at one point around 2500 words was then edited down to about 1800 (or so), and was really starting to have cohesion. There’s a little more work left to do on it, to get to where I want it to be. Still, an afternoon spent in the sun, writing, squirreled away behind the MFA near Boston’s fens was a good thing.
The bus ride will take a little over two hours, and I’m going to do my best to relax, and try to sleep. I’m exhausted from the weekend, but very thankful I came down.
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