My Home Town

I am going on a big trip in a few days.

It is a trip to my home town, where I’ve been raised from my earliest memories. I’ve grown up in this town, watching the kids play on the sidewalks and seeing the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The town looks very similar now as it did to me when I was growing up.

It’s a really busy town and I’m always amazed at the mass of humanity in my home town. I remember walking in the park, gazing at the river, all the while being engulfed in the canyon of tall buildings. I’ve tried not to let nostalgia glamorize my memory, but it is a beautiful place. I’ve seen its mean streets too. I’ve seen its crime. Believe it or not, I’ve seen people viciously beaten on the streets of my home town in front of my very eyes!!

I should also mention that I’ve never been to this town, this town in which I was raised.

The town is New York City.

I’m preparing for my first trip to the Big Apple and I’m excited. I’ve begun to reflect on the amount of time I’ve “spent” in New York and it is pretty impressive. As a toddler I was raised over on Sesame Street, which was geographically and culturally a few thousand miles away from 329 Northwood drive in the north Dallas suburbs. I recall being fascinated by the idea that people lived in apartment buildings instead of homes; that there were stores located on the same streets as these apartments—and that people spent afternoons playing jump rope and hopscotch instead of football and baseball.

Music and television have also affected my views of New York. People like Paul Simon and Billy Joel, Elaine and Kramer, Edith and Archie, Lucy and Ricky, even Horseshack and Vinny all have affected my view of New York. (I’ve even viewed its repeated destruction!)

I’m going up to New York next week to interview candidates for an open position on our faculty. Our hotel is right near Broadway, Time’s Square, Central Park and Ground zero.

I can’t wait to see what my home-town is like!!!!

(I do however expect to get mugged at some point).