mASSachusetts

I should be studying for my LOMA test tomorrow, but instead I'm updating ye old blog. Yeah, that's pretty much par for the course with me. Anyway...let's go bullet-style, shall we?

• Stormy's Great Massachusetts Adventure ended yesterday with a very bumpy flight into GRR. As I've mentioned before, the purpose of the trip was to scope out New England and see if it was a place I could handle moving to. Michiganders rejoice, for I am staying put...at least for now.
• What struck me once I left BDL airport was how dirty and run down everything is. I know MA was settled and developed long before MI ever was, but the whole place doesn't seem very well taken care of. Between that and the gloomy weather, I just felt depressed for most of the weekend.
• I also felt claustrophobic. MA just doesn't have the wide-open countryside feel that west Michigan does. I was driving back from Grand Haven this afternoon and things just felt right again--wide open spaces, parking lots, a bit of conspicuous consumerism, etc.
• The highways in MA are weird, yo. Here in MI we have these nifty things called mile markers, and the exits are all numbered, and lo and behold, the numbers match. In MA the exits are numbered sequentially--there may be one mile between exit 1 and 2, but there may be ten miles between exits 2 and 3. There's no way to know how far you are from the exit you're supposed to be getting off at, which is really disconcerting when you're in unfamiliar territory.
• The 65 mph speed limit is an abomination and should be abolished.
• Turnpikes? Are you kidding me? Maybe it's because I come from Michigan, home of the Big Three where driving is a God-given right, but I resent having to pay $2.10 just to get on the highway.
• Yes, the Italian bakery in Northampton kicked ass. Yes, it's cool that Northampton is full of liberal crunchy-granola types (latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving liberals, as it were). I've never seen so many Priuses and Subaru station wagons in one place in my life.
• Snow. MA gets lots of it, and I've had enough to last me a lifetime. Plus, with my physical issues I just can't help but think that November-March would be a nightmare. I'm already a social butterfly and basically a shut-in, but having to deal with sidewalks makes me even more of a shut-in.
• Amherst was kinda cool. A little more space, a little less run-down. Way expensive, though, and kind of in the middle of nowhere.
• As a liberal and a foodie, I've been reading about Trader Joe's for years. Ladies and gentlemen, I have seen the land of (organic soy) milk and (locally-harvested clover) honey, and it is Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is the shit.
• Dunkin' Donuts. Seriously, WHAT is the obsession with Dunkin' Donuts? They're EVERYWHERE. Here in MI we have ONE that I know of, but in MA you're always within spitting distance of one.
• I didn't notice it until I was in Amherst and standing in front of one, but there's a much lower concentration of churches in MA than in MI--bonus points for MA.
• As a liberal, every time someone mentions grocery stores they always say to bring your own bags (reusable canvas bags, ideally) and avoid plastic shopping bags. At Trader Joe's, people actually *do* that. It was surreal.
• Sunday was awesome. I had lunch with thirteen Kossacks, all of whom are wonderful and amazing people. Special props to Bill (BiPM, to his friends and fans), Michael (THE Michael!), 42, PoliSigh and mem from somerville for being five of the most wonderful people on the planet. I really enjoyed hanging out with all of you. And somehow I managed to fit all the New England swag into my suitcase...imagine that.
• I was much less discouraged by New Hampshire than I was by Massachusetts. But New Hampshire is a non-starter. Just the sight of the New Hampshire bumper sticker and the PSU t-shirt wigs me out.

So...I'm staying put, at least for now. As I was driving through Grand Haven today I realized GH has all of the things I'm looking for in a hometown, except the warm weather. Must investigate this further.

Comments

[AikoAdam]

Glad to have you back Stormy! My oldest sis lives over the border in CT. Their family just moved there this year from Upstate NY (my old homeplace) and so far they dig it. Expensive though. Funny about Dunkin', when we lived in SC it was Waffle House and Krsipy Kreme. Ohhh dude...Krispy Kreme donuts mmmmmmm(my best Homer Simpson impression)