Hittin' the highway...soon

AGAWAM, MASSACHUSETTS

I'm the kind of person who usually doesn't do things quickly. What's the rush? I returned to the US ten days ago; the plan was to attend my sister's wedding then eventualllllllly make my way westward to New Home in Los Angeles. New Home tenancy begins November 5, so I have that much time to get there.

Meaning that I can take the slow boat to my destination. And I am, yes I certainly am. My vessel will be a mutant combination of Amtrak trains and cheap flights, putting me in a mix of not particularly well traveled or popular places (North Dakota, Montana) and big cities that have attracted some degree of fame and tourism (Minneapolis and Seattle).

But that boat doesn't leave for a while. Thursday is the flight to Minneapolis; in the meantime, I'm at my dad's place in Agawam, Massachusetts, generally relaxing and learning how to properly spell "Massachusetts". Because America is not a particularly deep or thoughtful society, it's easy to get re-adjusted to life here. And those old Americanisms are already starting to creep back into my life. The other day I mowed my dad's lawn, my first lawn mowing gig since about 1994. The smell of freshly cut grass and the purr of the two-cycle motor...all I needed was some apple pie and a football game on the TV to go along with it. But yesterday's grinder sandwich and today's Giants game should come pretty close to satisfying that need.

My next stop, before Lewis & Clarking to the opposite side of the country, is Boston. I'll stay for a few days (and collect a pizza won in a bet with my ex-girlfriend), hang out with a few people I knew from Prague, then hit the airport for the Minneapolis hop. In Massachusetts, all anyone can talk about is Boston's baseball team, the Red Sox. They have a history of going far but not quite all the way, which changed when they won the World Series (i.e. the championship) in 2004. Will they repeat this accomplishment this year, or die at the last minute as per tradition? Sox fans are secretly worried about the latter possibility; me, I'm just happy to watch suspenseful baseball. The final game in the pennant series is tonight; the World Series starts on Wednesday.