Thursday, December 28, 2006

back home for a few days

I'm just checking in to let the rest of the world know that I didn't drop off the face of the earth. I've been out of town since Saturday, visiting my mom in Johnstown and now my aunt and uncle and cousins in Reading, PA. I've had Internet access the entire time I've been away, but I didn't have much to share. And clearly I don't have much to say now, either. I've gotten caught up on sleep, reconnected with some friends from high school, and tried to alleviate the boredom of being back in my hometown for a few days.

Johnstown is a weird place to me now. There's a certain level of familiarity with the city: for example, my neighborhood looks exactly the same as it always did, and the streets all go to the same places. But the downtown area has changed significantly and I didn't recognize most of the buildings as we drove down the hill from my neighborhood to downtown. It was still Johnstown, but not a Johnstown I know.

This has also been the first trip home where I didn't feel bad that I could only stay for a few days. In years past I've left to return to New York thinking that I should have stayed longer. I had a much better time at home than I expected, but this year it felt like just long enough to be there. I'm in a hotel in Reading now and I'm ready to go back to New York tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to a long weekend in the city with no major plans. I do have some things in mind to do to occupy those three days, most of them relaxing and low-key.

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