Sushi and doughnuts between the train stop and the front door are about as good as city living gets.
Last week we visited our daughter and son-in-law in Boston and enjoyed a taste of life for two small-town kids who have landed in arguably America’s coolest city. On the morning of Elise’s birthday, she awoke early to work on a paper for school and I sat in the living room perusing the Internet when the idea hit that I needed to take a walk and get her a treat. Between her house and the train stop is a Dunkin’ Donuts – a ubiquitous sight in Boston. In less than 10 minutes, I was able to deliver my faithful studier her favorite coffee and a bagel.
After living the gamut of small town and suburban/country settings all my life, we recently took a three year hiatus and lived in Shanghai, China, a city of 20 million people, where I fell in love with the conveniences and hustle of city living. Visiting Boston and spending a chunk of our time at the kids’ apartment, we were able to rekindle memories of picking up food on the walk home from a long day and padding in time for train waits.
I know the commute gets tedious for those who have to do it every day, but for me who gets around solo in a Pontiac with only NPR for company, train travel served as much as entertainment, as it did a way to get from point A to point B. March Madness kicked off during our visit and Boston College had just lost the game to place the team in the tournament. So, when I saw the really tall young guy in a BC basketball hoodie with a number on it, he piqued my interest. I noted that he drank two Mountain Dews and gobbled one of those vending machine packages of powdered doughnuts. I paused to wonder if he had been fueling himself similarly during the season and if they might have had the kick to make it in the tournament if he had been drinking protein shakes instead.
One evening about six, we were standing in a crowded train on the way back from our touring pursuits. A little girl sporting a pink butterflied backpack, who looked completely tuckered from day care, asked her dad where they would be eating dinner. He answered that they were eating at home. She started to cry and repeat “I hate home food!” Life is tough and I am sure the one who prepares it during the chant hates home food also.
A man with a white cane cautiously entered the train and three beleaguered commuters hopped up to offer him their seats. Mostly, I observed people eager to get to their destinations in a no nonsense kind of way. I enjoy seeing folks whose walks of life differ from my own and I always wonder.
As we walked home from the train with Elise one afternoon, it was so easy to stop and order sushi rather than go back to the apartment and rummage through the kitchen for lunch. I write these words, however, from my desk at home in Michigan where I look to my front and see pine trees, and to the back to see woods. We do not see another house from any window in our home, and instead of city noise, we have wind whistling through the trees. Even though I love to visit city life, and enjoyed living in a city apartment for a few years, the quiet of the country calls me home.
While buying coffee and sushi on the way home from a walk is great fun, I know it is a quick way to go broke. Elise and Scott love living in the hustle of city life and I am so happy for them that they have the opportunity. Next month, the Boston Marathon will stream by their first floor apartment and they will be able to watch from their kitchen table. Life takes us in so many different directions, and I am glad to be able to experience their world – one so different from my own.
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