Going home ... :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Going home ...

Posted by admin on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 07:05 AM

It was time to hit life's little red "reset" button.
You know the button; the one you push after the circuit gets overloaded when there are 11 different appliances coming out of the same outlet and suddenly there's that little spark -- then darkness. I hit the button for the first time in a long time last month. I went home. At the risk of losing some of you -- in baseball terms, 2004 has been a long at-bat, where, with two strikes, I fought off a bunch of curves and finally managed a bloop single to right field. The bloop single came when I landed in Boston ... and the rally began. I'm not sure if there's a psychological term for a building being the center point of your universe. If there is, I've not heard of it, but after a three hour flight, and for the first time in a long time, I took a deep breath when, upon descent, I saw the Prudential Tower off to my left. It was as if the "resetting" had begun, and the "Pru" was the button. A bit of personal history here: If memory serves me, my dad helped install the elevators in what was then the tallest building in North America outside of Manhattan. He nearly died in the process and worked there for many years so the building is a bit more than a landmark to me. Without sounding like a tour guide, there is something really cool about going to the Skywalk at the top of the Pru and being able to see all the way to New Hampshire on a clear day. I did that a lot growing up. At any rate, most of my closest friends have some link to Boston, whether through childhood or being part of Terrier Nation at Boston University. Yet somehow many years -- too many years -- have passed since I saw some of these folks. Through the wonder of the Internet we've been in touch but it's not the same as sharing a pint at Crossroads, an Irish breakfast or a margarita while watching a miming gargoyle startle unsuspecting tourists in Faneuil Hall. I got to touch base with a lot of the little things that used to be staples -- like seeing Pedro pitch another gem on a gorgeous night at Fenway, lunch at the Cask, dinner in the North End and a quick tour of the hometown -- but are now just fond memories. The week flew by, and the "reset" was complete. Flying back to Atlanta was easier than I thought. It was as if I was checking in on an old friend who was doing just fine, and now, so was I.

· 108 Reads ·