so here’s what happens when you plan a holiday around sun and beaches: it rains.

it rained nearly every single day of my vacation.  and yet somehow, through the unfailing optimism and hilarious good cheer of my travelling companion, (and copious amounts of beer), it was all okay.  everything we did, was “perfect”.  everything that was even moderately successful was “meant to be”.

i was, as tourguide, overcome with the realisation of just how different i am from the person that lived in boston 6 years ago.  the paths and places i’ve forgotten, the words that tangled up my tongue.  while there are bits and pieces that remain as intimately known as the back of my hand, more and more, each visit back represents snapshots of a life that is more different than i ever remembered, and all the unseen shifting that happened when i wasn’t looking.

time marches on, of course.  would that i could freeze people, come back to exactly where they were when i left, slide right back into my slot, take up my place seamlessly in everyone else’s lives and times.

but i can’t.  and the changes seem more and more pronounced each time i try to pick up where i left off.  i cannot, it seems, expect to indefinitely straddle two worlds – at some point, they drift too far apart.

these observations are not new, of course.  i’ve made them many times.  what was new, was the realisation that it doesn’t really sting so much nowadays.  i kinda wish it did.

other things of note:

• i have a new nephew! will get to see him in a few weeks when i’m at my brother’s wedding
• my nephew had swine flu. yes, for real
• my other sister is also having another baby! due sometime in november
• i don’t miss getting wound up by the ridiculous media in the u.s.,  at all.
• lucky charms have inexplicably shrunk their marshmallows and now call them “mini-charms”
• i may get lost driving around, but i can still home in on the beacon of any dunkin’ donuts within a 5 mile radius
• customer service, while sometimes verging on the sycophantic, overall remains a far better experience in the u.s.
• i hate getting charged for using an atm machine
• boston is actually not a bad little city
• people in the u.s. are starting to use british slang. i heard “knackered” and “wanker” used. for some reason, this annoys me greatly.

a few photos (more here):

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