Driving through Wilbraham, MA on I-90 (a rode I've only traveled once previously), I was enjoying the scenery--rolling hills, lush foliage, and copious inlets--when a hill we were passing on looked oddly familiar. That looks like the hill where the sign for Friendly's is,
I thought to myself. Sure enough, I turned as we passed and saw the Friendly's sign in the hillside. How I can pick out the side of a random hill in New England, but have problems remembering how to write programs I've written several times previously is beyond me.
There are certain places that I visit that always bring up the same memory or the same thought. In Syracuse, NY, I remember a particularly bad visit I had during my sister's undergrad graduation--the time spent with my sister wasn't bad, but rather the time spent with my girlfriend at the time, Rebekah. Luckily, I have no reason to go back to Syracuse any time soon. On the way to Boston, we passed Amherst, MA, home of the UMass (UConn, Umass.. what's with the school names up here?), the school of a friend I met in high school, Maura. My mind triggers the most random memories at the least opportune times.
I've been considering getting in touch with Maura this past week. I haven't talked to her in several months, and when we did talk, it wasn't like old times. I haven't kept in touch with Maura very well for over three years after spending almost two years pining for her in high school. The odd--and embarrassing--part about all this is that I met her over the Internet and I've never seen her in person. In fact, I didn't see a picture of her until after we stopped talking frequently. And so, after years of being out of touch, I find myself a handful of miles from her school (granted, it's summer, she probably isn't there), wondering if she'd consider meeting for lunch, for old times sake.
New England certainly has a way of throwing my life into chaos. I kinda like it here.
