Eric and I spent the weekend in Michigan for a whirlwind family visit - to Eric's friends, brother and sister-in-law, 3-week-old nephew Keegan, parents, Aunt Mary, cousin Ashley and grandparents (plus Lucky and Bandit - two black cats - and Hunter, Meghan's chocolate lab). All the trip was missing was a partridge in a pear tree.
Keegan is the cutest little peanut on the planet right now, somehow even cuter than Petra's (art director at Self) newborn girl, Momo. He's just over 6 pounds and his facial expressions are so complex and varied that I'm pretty sure he's destined to act on Broadway. If those don't wow future casting directors, his voice surely will. When he was not happy with his bath, he let us all know with a warbling scream that sounded like a goat sitting on an off-balance washing machine. Anything that kid does is adorable.
I feel so comfortable around and accepted by Eric's family. I love how Meghan completely opened up to me, how Chad pushes me around even though I'm inches taller than him, how Grandma gives me super-long hugs and confides that Eric and Chad are her favorites grandkids. The weekend definitely made me miss my own family even more than before.
The weekend also served as sort of a reality check. I've been living in Manhattan for about 4 months now and have left the city twice - during my second weekend here to NJ for a barbeque, and two weekends ago to Harriman St. Park for a day trip in the forest. Being in suburbia and the country reminded me that yes, other places do exist - places where you can take a huge breath of cold, clean air, places that are quiet. That realization made me miss small-town Eugene with its rivers and hiking trails and trees and sleepy streets.
But this morning I woke up and took a walk and rode the subway to work, just like normal. Times Square didn't seem any more overstimulating than usual, and I didn't even get impatient when my subway train broke down. Cul-de-sacs and tree-lined streets are lovely, but they can't get me the universe's best dumplings for $2.00 or tile murals on subway walls or world-class opera for free or the diversity of this ever-changing metropolis.
For the time being, at least, New York is my home.
Keegan is the cutest little peanut on the planet right now, somehow even cuter than Petra's (art director at Self) newborn girl, Momo. He's just over 6 pounds and his facial expressions are so complex and varied that I'm pretty sure he's destined to act on Broadway. If those don't wow future casting directors, his voice surely will. When he was not happy with his bath, he let us all know with a warbling scream that sounded like a goat sitting on an off-balance washing machine. Anything that kid does is adorable.
I feel so comfortable around and accepted by Eric's family. I love how Meghan completely opened up to me, how Chad pushes me around even though I'm inches taller than him, how Grandma gives me super-long hugs and confides that Eric and Chad are her favorites grandkids. The weekend definitely made me miss my own family even more than before.
The weekend also served as sort of a reality check. I've been living in Manhattan for about 4 months now and have left the city twice - during my second weekend here to NJ for a barbeque, and two weekends ago to Harriman St. Park for a day trip in the forest. Being in suburbia and the country reminded me that yes, other places do exist - places where you can take a huge breath of cold, clean air, places that are quiet. That realization made me miss small-town Eugene with its rivers and hiking trails and trees and sleepy streets.
But this morning I woke up and took a walk and rode the subway to work, just like normal. Times Square didn't seem any more overstimulating than usual, and I didn't even get impatient when my subway train broke down. Cul-de-sacs and tree-lined streets are lovely, but they can't get me the universe's best dumplings for $2.00 or tile murals on subway walls or world-class opera for free or the diversity of this ever-changing metropolis.
For the time being, at least, New York is my home.
posted by cm at 3:48 PM
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