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Mpls, MN, United States

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Home?

As I flew into Minneapolis this morning at 8:40 (my flight having been delayed eight and a half hours--much of which I was thankfully able to spend at my parents' house between trips to the airport), the ground stretched out flat and white and the trees cast half-mile shadows over the snow. I recognized a familiarly-shaped chain of lakes, and near it the cluster of tall downtown buildings, and realized that out my window was the view I'd seen so often on Google Maps that even I, the most directionally-challenged person I know, could point out my own neighborhood. I saw the airfield, the Mississippi, the University, and as we swung far to the east to make our final descent, the twin downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Whether it's because I live closer to both the airport and major landmarks than I ever have before, because the area is impressively flat, because things stood out especially clearly against the pale snowy ground, or because of some other aligning of the stars, it was pretty exciting to recognize the city as mine--as conflicted as I felt about being back.

5 comments:

Ellen said...

Instead of "I live closer" I read, "I liver closer."

Carissa said...

I hear it's crazy cold up 'round your part of the country. I hope the change from CA hasn't been too hard for you. It would be for me, I'm pretty sure. It's awesome that you were able to be away for so long, though. Does the University really start this late in the new semester?

Ern said...

You know the nice thing about blog friends? Even though you just flew far away, your blog is still RIGHT HERE!

I'm glad you're feeling at home there. That can be really hard to do during grad school.

Leah said...

I totally understand about feeling conflicted. I'm not even back "home" yet and I'm conflicted. Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

Victor Hugo said, "Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."