The same thing happened to me when I lived in Northern Ireland that is happening to me now. I think it is the effect of small Catholic cities (leaving aside the politics of calling Derry Northern Ireland a catholic city, my Derry was Catholic) I started to develop nostalgia, nostalgia for my home, nostalgia for the south. For fiddles and barbecue, for those green humid evening in summer when the smell of mown grass and the sounds of crickets penetrate everywhere. Being in a place with a much richer and individual sense of place than my own makes me focus on the elements of my home that I do find unique, special, and comforting
And of course when I actually spent time there, I remember that some of this idealized loveliness isn´t quite what exists when you go there. Some of this North Carolina is what you get in the hollywood version of the South, and some of it is connected to the memories and sensations of childhood. Often what is noticeable about Greensboro when I spend time there is the homogeneity of it. The strip malls, the Starbucks, the fact that you have to drive everywhere.
Then there are the elderly gentleman talking to you about evolution in CVS. I am not sure quite what to call that. It´s not homogeneity. And its not the part of the South that I particularly like.
And so, considering where to spend the weeks or months after coming home, these thoughts come in to play.
4 comments:
You'll be jealous to find out that on Wednesday evenings I head over to my friends garage with a twelve pack in hand and sit and listen to them picking and singing until the wee hours of the morning. The garage comes complete with tons of humidity and the smell of dense brush surrounding the building. However, it is still Kansas City...
Actually headed to South Carolina on Friday with the kids for a vacation.
Actually I think I was in GHS w/ you - Chorus/Playmasters
Have fun in SC Townser , hope you are going to a very pretty beach!
Anonymous, the internet has really turned out to be handy that way, especially for reconnecting with people from high school, who are you?
Amy, for whose tiny role as 'Diana Moon Glompers' you took over when I skipped out to go to a singing workshop w/ Marta and three other chorus members
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