Favorite places

(Photo taken by me, October 2007)

Continuing with the theme of things I wrote years ago, here's one I wrote about my favorite places on 9/1/03. (It's interesting to see how my favorite places have changed in the past five years. Maybe I'll write a current favorite places blog soon....)

My favorite places are not that of distant, exotic lands. They are all a piece of "home" to me. These places are more important to me for the people I connect with and for the comfort of feeling "at home" no matter how far I am from the house I live in at the time.

Camping and hiking at Lost Maples, Texas, picnic meals in the crisp, autumn weather in the woods---reminds me of home in New England. Quiet and Walden-like. Clearwater Beach in Florida and seafood at Leverock's with Dad and again with Mom. Drives through Wimberly to visit Jennie or watch Eliza Gilkyson play at Cypress Creek Cafe. You can see all the stars out there in the pitch black of night, cruising down the winding roads of Wimberly while jamming to music on the radio and talks with Nicole.

Driving along the roads of the west---Utah, California, Wyoming in all its beauty, natural in its green fields and rocky chiseled mountains. Reno and other parts of Nevada reminding me of family closeness I had for 6 months after I graduated college. Ladd, Juliana, Elijah. Jeff's visits to Reno and hanging out at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. I won us two bets on the Roulette table that bought us dinner that night.

Walking around the block to Uncle Don's house for a tuna fish sandwich, Fritos, and maybe M&M's or highly addictive salty pistachios to munch on while we had long talks at the kitchen table, my surrogate father in an "uncle" disguise. And now, talking to him on the phone comforts me and brings me home to the days when my grandfather imparted his words of wisdom to me. I feel like he's talking to me again when my uncle talks with me.

Breakfasts and brunches in restaurants late at night or in the late morning on the weekend in my grandparents' apartment in Derry, New Hampshire. Eggs, toast, and the artery clogging greasy bacon was my childhood favorite. Sleepovers and swimming in the pool till my fingers turned prune-like. I lived in that pool it seemed, even when the chlorine was green from some chemical problem the pool had.

Now my breakfast meals out are fun times with Eve and the occasional quirky Nate. Clarke's on Belmont is great for camaraderie. Stella's Diner off Broadway is a Sunday morning hangout to debrief after Eve and I have hung out with Brandon and Paul the previous night.

Tuck's, a dive bar with character that reveals the personalities of its inhabitants. Nostalgia felt in the tunes it plays and the memories it brings with the guys we know.

The sights of Portland, Oregon last time I saw Tracy, my old high school friend. I felt at home, reminiscing of our lives over the past 8 years with such an enduring friendship.

The campus of Southwest Texas State, another home of sorts with all the experiences and friends it provided. Finding Nicole again. And meeting Carla in boring Sensation and Perception class, a Psych requirement for my major. Going to the gym with Carla, my "personal trainer" and motivator to workout. Nicole's apartment my second home from my own apartment. Chillin' out watching movies and going to Austin for dancing with Nicole, Jennie, and Carla. "The square" in San Marcos, socializing and getting buzzed with the Swedish guys or Nicole and Jennie's neighbors at The Oaks.

Bookstores always follow me around with that feeling of my special place to be. Maybe it's because I grew up in a virtual library or quasi-bookstore home with Mom's endless shelves of books for me to peruse in fascination and/or curiosity, a thirst to fill my need for imagination and knowledge. My overall favorite bookstore is hands down, "my" store on Michigan Ave in Chicago---Border's with its kooky employees who I have come to know as coworkers posing as my other little family with their own lovable odd idiosyncrasies. Some even remind me of my own family---Cheri is what I imagine Kristen to be like in some ways, a little sister. And Brian G. takes on the physical and comical characteristics of my brother Alex. I am hardly ever depressed when I am around these people---I have found my intellectual niche, very comforting.

The lake down the street from me at Belmont Harbor is where I go to run away from my problems, stress, and shed my old self (cellulite). I love to watch people and the dogs playing or sniffing around the park. The ducks floating along the water, carefree and calm. The ice on the lake in the winter creating a beautiful sight that resembles a broken sculpture.

Tuesday's Child is where I go to be a child again and re-live days of innocence and simplicity, when the small stuff was what mattered most....when you weren't afraid to do what you felt in the moment, hugging your friend and telling him or her "I love you!!" with no hesitation or fear of the consequences.

The longer I live in Chicago, the memories it has given me and continues to give me leaves me feeling like I am more and more in my element, feeling more like a home that is mine and only mine----a favorite place I created and molded from scratch almost 2 years ago. My current favorite place.