The things I miss

Where I used to live
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

My friend Nancy has posted a blog entry about things she misses, both in Eugene, Oregon, and her current hometown of Athens, Georgia. It made me want to write one about the things I miss.

First off, see this photo? If you haven't messed around with Google Earth, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This screen cap from Google Earth is of my old stompin' grounds when I lived in Puerto Rico. To the left is a cemetary. Then there's an L- shaped building to the right of it. That's Beach Tower, where we lived for 7 years until 1977 when we moved to Stone Mountain in Georgia. As you can see, it's RIGHT ON THE BEACH! Yes, I miss having the ocean as my back yard. But as I recall when I lived there, I wanted to move back to the U.S. But when we moved I had a bad time adjusting and missed Puerto Rico horribly. I think it was because high school was hell for me.

So: I miss the beach. I miss not ever being cold. I miss the food, especially bacalaitos, empanadas, medianoches, and cubanos. I've had cubanos (they're sandwiches, people!) here. They're just not the same. When Jon and I went on vacation to St. John, the thing that made me happiest was being able to hear the surf AND the coquís. Eventually I want to take Brenden to Puerto Rico, but when he's a little older so he can appreciate it.

As I mentioned, high school was hell. Why? I was a NERD. I hated every moment of every day I was in that place. Well, I made one good friend - Lisa. She lives out in Los Angeles and to my delight she's moving back to Atlanta pretty soon. Here's something funny: the only reason I applied to Georgia Southern College was because that's where she was going. Through her I met Alan and his roommate Mark. My friend Nancy met and married Mark, and Nancy's high school friend Helly met her husband Alan because of Nancy. So guys, we all owe it to Lisa.

So I hated high school and therefore can't think of a bloody thing I miss about Stone Mountain. Well, there was one thing. I discovered that I could walk into Stone Mountain (about 15 minute walk) to catch the bus, then go wherever I damn well pleased in Atlanta. Like Nancy I like Public Transportation. I always took a paperback with me and read until I got to where I wanted to go.

I also miss my weekend Dungeons and Dragons games. They were with some of Lisa's older friends, who were more hippies than nerds. I won't go into details but let's just say this was the 70's. I sure do miss those sessions. Much fun!

As much as I hated high school I loved college. So much I went for 6 years (actually I stayed out a year because I joined the Army Reserves). In high school nerds are treated harshly. In college you just find other nerds and have fun because the people that picked on you the worst were back home working at McDonald's (NERDS RULE!).

What I miss most: walking everywhere, drinking that godawful $0.20 coffee at the student center, hanging out with Mark and Alan (and their roommate Glenn {hi, Glenn! Hope you are doing well!}, who became my boyfriend), being a DJ at the college radio station, pitchers of beer (18 was the drinking age back then) and playing table-top Super Mario Brothers II, and I actually, truly for once, enjoyed learning. I took the one required Algebra class, and I was stunned at how much I ended up loving it, even though I scrambled like hell to play catch up because I never paid attention in High School. I loved it so much it became kind of a mini-minor. I took Trig and Calc 1 & 2 before I ran out of electives. I LOVED math.

I could have stayed in college forever. So that's what I miss. but above all else, I miss goofing off. I get to for maybe an hour or so here or there, but for the most part, taking 2-3 weeks and JUST NOT DOING A DAMN THING is a thing of the past. I had to grow up sometime.