Kansas City and I were childhood best friends who had a rough patch in high school, separated for college, and now have found ourselves totally and completely infatuated with each other.
Or at least that's how I feel about Kansas City... I suppose I just assume all the feelings are mutual because that's what you do in infatuation.
Seriously. I love this city. I want to spend every waking moment driving around and snuggling up to each nook and quirk that I have been learning since childhood. I am eager to impart my wisdom to my friend Amanda who's new here from Nebraska. Like a smitten teenager, I could talk for hours about my favorite thrift store in Westport, having a picnic atop the Nelson Art Museum, the Nelson itself, the paths by Town Center with the weeping willow, how I know the precise location of three Whole Foods stores, my favorite Italian restaurant, the best ice cream, our terrible sports teams, delightful lakes, and more. I actually giggle aloud with pleasure when driving through Brookside or midtown and seeing all the charming little houses where I dream of living. I smile faintly when I see garage sale signs, a remembrance of my past and a certain part of my future when I inhabit one of the previously mentioned charming houses. (I hope)
Is it odd to be sweet on a city? I think so. I don't think this level of lovesickness for anything is ever healthy long-term. Nonetheless, I know a lot of it is due to reentry into a culture that is more familiar to me than macaroni and cheese and even more comforting. Locusts, long days, bike rides, Plaza, childhood and now adulthood - I embrace you.
ES+KC = 
(^in case you hadn't gotten the point or weren't feeling queasy about all these comparisons already. Oregon may be my state crush, but a crush is only... well, a crush.)
3 comments:
i appreciate you speaking well of kansas city :-)
--Claudia
I understand what it means to be in love with a place, even when it's a place you don't want to be in love with.
I recall a conversation I had with Barb Dewald when I was deciding where to go on my SOS. "I'm so divided," I said. "I just don't know what to do" (I have uttered thsi phrase so many times in the past year it's ridiculous). "I want to go somewhere I'll be useful." What I didn't say was that I also wanted to go somewhere exotic, a place I hadn't been and wanted to see. I wanted Ireland. I wanted Italy. I even wanted Romania (from which I could travel to Constantinople, Prague, etc). I'd already been to England. I didn't want to do my SOS there. SOS was a temporary "trip," a place to visit. England was "life" a place to make home.
As my love of England took possession of the rest of me, I realized I needed to be there like a long-distance lover needs to be in her beloved's arms. The desire decided my destination, which (as you know) changed the course of my life.
I later discussed with Barb my unknown future (a frequent topic of discussion the final semester of college...and now). I disclosed that I'd been internet scanning for jobs in England. I considered nannying, hospitality, housekeeping and TEFL. Anything to keep me in the homeland of my heart. "Barb," I said "I'd scrub the streets with a toothbrush if it meant I'd be in England." My voice sort of cracked and I think I started tearing up. It was then that I realized I was enamored with England.
Also, you can now add to your list of awesome things about KC the paleteria we discovered Sunday. We will go back and this time I will order in Spanish.
PS La joya escondida es un otro lugare que encantarme. (pienso)
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