Memory Lane

Fall break is here.  Mostly that means I have truly epic amounts of work to do, but on Thursday, it meant a long-anticipated day of adventure.  It also meant I needed to get out of New Haven so badly that I was practically giddy by the time the tires hit 91-S and I was headed back to one of my "homes" - good old Northampton.  Given the many locations I could have chosen to see Brandi Carlile in concert this fall, Northampton topped the list of favorites and I bought tickets weeks ago, in anticipation of just such a trip.

Wandering around my old college campus is still surreal.  Less so, now that I'm a couple years out from graduating and I don't always feel like I'm wandering the earth without a purpose or a goal.  Plus, if you are unmoved by the beauty of western Massachusetts in the fall, then I really don't think we can be friends.

Rumor is, you cannot walk through the gates at Smith before you graduate or you won't, in fact, graduate.  Superstitious?  Sure, but I wasn't really willing to bet against superstition considering that my grasp on stability while I was at Smith was sometimes tenuous at best.  Point being, the weekend of commencement, you're meant to walk through the gates.  I forgot.  Two and a half years later, though, and instead of walking, I jumped.  Whee.

I also met up with an old friend - who is now a senior, good lord, she made me feel old.  Poised, and gorgeous, and so grown up - there I am, tearing up at the dinner table, remembering how young she was when she was a wittle first-year.  I felt like I was coming out in reverse, telling her I had a boyfriend now.  I think I even choked on the word a little bit.  It sounds weird coming out of my mouth.
"Does he make you happy?" she asked me.
"Yes.  Like, ridiculously happy." Sheepish grinning ensues.
"That happy?  Good lord.  Okay, fine.  Tell him I said hi."

And thus approval was gained.

* * *

Seeing Brandi Carlile live was the most fun I've had in a long time.  The concert was, in a word, incredible.  Her energy, her band, and good grief, her pipes - girl lights up the stage.  And her music rips my heart out and hands it back, with words that pierce my soul and chords that sound like the soundtrack to every ache in my heart.  I almost made it through the entire concert without crying, until the very last song.

When you're lost you will toss every lucky coin you'll ever trust

And you will hide from your god like he never turns his back on us

And you will fall all the way to the bottom and land on your own knife

And you'll learn who you are even if it doesn't take your life.

But mostly I'm just a sap and I cry really easily, especially to her songs.  On an unrelated note...Hurricane Sandy?  Seriously?  I feel like I should go out and buy some waders so that I can slosh to school if I have to.