Different

I've never been away from home for this long.

This time it was effectively a year before I came back. 

Sure I was here for 4 days in may and 2 days at the end of August, but now everything has a strange feeling.

Perhaps it'll wear off.

It started with flying in. Maybe it was the 5am rise, and the 8am approach over the city. However, we the plane swung out in a wide turn over cape spare (as it always does) the cliffs looked different. It felt like it was the first time I was seeing them. I felt giddy and awe struck with the accompanying thought "This is amazing, I've never seen this before".

Then it continued with Harley not recognizing me right away. Of course that soon changed with some exciting jumping, scrapping the hardwood floor, and my parents shouting for him to get back in the kitchen. "Get in there you little $#%#$%#$ #$%#$ #$%#@#$% $%#^%$ $%^&$@ #$". But still, he'd never not recognized me before.

Moving along, the city's different. The people are different. 

It's certainly more cosmopolitan here every time I come back. There's a star bucks downtown now, it nearly always has a lineup. There's every manner of breakfast joint, all of which are packed with groups of women that remind me of my mother and her co-workers and friends. Then of course there's the high powered business luncheons and the suits, the lawyers, that all seem so out of place.

What's happened?

This used to be a sleepy little place in the winter. Sure there's cut throat shopping and such like any other place, but downtown was always kinda nice and peaceful. Now it's like everywhere else.

Is that good? It's proving not to be much of an escape anymore.

Well, either way, it's not bad, especially if it's not a good, but it's certainly different.

Perhaps even startling so.

At least there's lots of snow to play with harley in :)