I should be happy, seeing as how on Friday I get a college degree and all, but it seems anti-climactic since I am having to leave the place I want to live in order to get it. I figured out that, at this point, if I hadn't found a job yet, I'd be going home, getting my car, and driving back up after Christmas to stay until I got on my feet.
I am ready to move.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE New Orleans. I love the random jazz bands on the street. I love the river and the bridges that cross it. I love the ferry. I love the smell of whisky and beer mixed with humidity that permeates the air (and I don't even like whisky and beer, just that smell). I love the broken sidewalks and the cast iron balconies. I love Canal Street at Christmas. I love streetcars. I love St. Charles Avenue, any time of year. I love the strange accent that has come about from the mixture of ancestries of that great city. I love listening to those accents and trying to figure out what part of the city people are from.
I love my family.
But, even loving all of this stuff, I feel like I should be in New York. This church family of mine has really gotten to me, and I am going to miss them like crazy, once again, until the next time I find time to come visit. It won't be Mardi Gras, it won't be Spring Break, so who knows, it might not be until I move up here this summer (though the thought of waiting that long stabs me in the heart... I haven't gone that long since I was here that summer).
Last night, I made one of my favorite memories of all time. I'm pretty sure it tops the New York list of memories, and it's right up there with the random pre-Katrina Christmas snow on my list of winter memories. Ashley and I decided, after both of us had been wanting to for a while, to go up to the roof of the MNYBA building (this is where I lived when I was here, and where she lives now). The snow, which had barely stuck to some of the cars on the street, had COATED the roof. We got the idea to then start making snowballs and tossing them at unsuspecting objects below. So, first we aimed and parked cars, then moving cars, then bikers, walkers, dogs, etc.... We never meant to actually hit people, but we liked to land them right in front of them and see their reaction. Mackenzie came up and joined in on the fun. We laughed for about an hour straight. It made for an amusing way to come home.
Today, I'm going to go out, enjoy the city, get some shopping done, show up at the Graffiti Christmas dinner with my best caroling voice ready to go, and walk around Alphabet City singing to strangers through restaurant windows and down the sidewalks of Tompkins Square Park.
Then, I'm going to pack up, and hop on an early morning flight to go home to the place that made me who I am, and dream of the place that's changed my heart. , snow
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