City Slicker

Being back in small-town West Texas is very surreal. I spent the first day and a half feeling like I was in a dream. Everything seemed vaguely familiar, but not quite the same as I remembered it. It's almost as if I lived here in a previous life (if there was such a thing) but I can only remember bits and pieces.
As my days back extend into 3, I quickly slip back into a familiar pattern. Stopping at Sonic after church with my brother and his girlfriend for a drink, running errands with my mom, meeting my best friend as Rosa's for lunch. It all starts to feel normal again.
I know that when I go back to Boston in a day, the first day and half there I'll go through a similar change. Not so sweet and cozy as the dream memory of Lubbock, more "in your face" with the busy-ness of the city, being surrounded by people everywhere I go, and the intensity of the hospital I work for.
I like both places for different reasons. Right now though, I love the city more. In the city, I always feel that anything could happen. It's exciting. I never know who or what I'll see. I like riding the subways and I love giving people directions, like I've lived there all my life. (note: uh, please don't ask me for directions. I've been asked about 6 times and only once have I given the right directions... oops)
Maybe someday my love for the quiet, slower-pace will win over. One of my good friends just moved to the country with her husband and their three, beautiful children. And it was great being out in the wide-openness of West Texas with just a couple of chickens, a dog, and a cute kitten named Tuffy. Their lives aren't super-exciting, they don't have a t.v., but they have each other, and their kids. And, it's pretty sweet.
There is a season for everything. Right now I have no doubt that God wants me in the city. In Boston. I also have no doubt that when that season ends, He'll direct me somewhere even more great, and I'll be ready for it then.

Happy Trails West Texas