stint in suburbia

Today concludes my brief stint in suburbia. I rode back on Amtrak, which was uneventful as always. The little patch between New London and Kingston is the prettiest, especially the silvery waves along Mystic and little inlets where motorboats glide past. The marshes are also charming in an unassuming way. There are always one or two swans lazily floating and a whole boatload of herons just standing there. It's nice to get out of the city for a while and see green and blue and other colors besides gray, brown, and black.

I went home on Wednesday, and the first good thing that happened to me was my dad's cooking. It was the simplest meal ever, but so good. Noodles and stir fried green peppers. Besides being an excellent cook, my dad also apparently has a green thumb. There are suddenly deep green jasmine plants on the windowsill and an explosion of red and yellow flowers in the urn outside our porch. Bedtime for me is suddenly 11PM rather than 3AM, and everything is pitch black at night and disturbingly quiet.

On Thursday, I went running on the bike path near my house and somehow managed 4 miles (divine intervention). It's nice to say hi to everyone I pass, and smile at the woman leading her freaked out teenage daughter on roller blades. I think the daughter's roller blading skills are slightly superior to my running skills. On the way home, I stepped off the sidewalk so a boy on his bike could pass me, and he said thank you so politely that I was touched. Then I came upon his mom and some other mom talking about casseroles and arranging a play date for their kids. Finally, as I walked down my street, an adorable little girl in a summery green dress with white lace trimming ran past me barefoot with her school project in her hand. There's something to be said about the burbs. It's so idyllic and safe. I know if I had kids under 12, I wouldn't want them running around NYC or Philly alone.

Friday started off with some fishing with my dad. I managed to get one small bluefish in two hours, which was unceremoniously strung up on the big pole and eventually lost its life to a crab. Dad fared much better with three flukes, two crabs, and one latex glove. Then we stopped by a local farm stand and bought a few ears of gigantic sugar-butter corn. It's always nice to pick out ears of corn from a burlap sack and smell the sharp tang of limes, herbs, and cinnamon in the air. I also think it's cool that the owners bottle their own cream soda.

In the afternoon, I mowed the lawn, which was a herculean effort in itself since I could barely walk from Thursday. I probably looked like a penguin suffering from osteoperosis. It wouldn't be so bad except that my house is on a hill. A hill that looks deceptively mild until you a) try to park your car on the driveway, or b) mow the lawn. I think the key to mowing a lawn is to wear a hat and breathe through your nose so that bugs/dirt/grass doesn't end up clogging your throat. Still, I'd have to say that freshly cut grass is one of my favorite smells, and I get a workout on the side.

Conclusion? Suburbia is good in micro-doses, and maybe if you plan to have small children and/or small animals someday.