U Turns

"You know how the time flies

Only yesterday, was the time of our lives.

We were born and raised in a summer haze

Bound by the surprise of our glory days." -Adele in "Someone like you"-- I feel like a bandwagon jumper but she has an astonishing ability to tell stories through her songs.

People in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia take many U-turns. Perhaps it's because the lights take longer to turn or because there are more cars and people are immune to the hectic nature of driving... but I wonder if the way they drive is symbolic of them taking more risks.

I compensated for my driving this summer with my 7 mile runs every other day. As an active person, driving around in Maine made me feel sludgy. It hurt my back, I was breathing up fumes, I felt like a potato. The good thing about Silver Spring and the weekly commutes to the District of Columbia is that there is always a Subway somewhere within a mile of where you are. "You don't see many fat people in D.C.," an acquaintance remarks. And it's true. Though during the recession, jumping in front of the Subway is a quick and easy method for suicide as I saw during my second afternoon here when my travels were delayed a good half hour. Bravery or something else?

I'm not sure why I'm writing like this. I haven't honed my craft in a long time and I miss school a little bit. Hopefully this year is a nice breath away from school before I get back into the midst of the madness.

And so far, Silver Spring seems like a nice place to take that breath. I'm within walking distance of everything I can imagine. I could only imagine what I would do if I had more than Americorps money. In addition to a Mall and Giant grocery store that's a ten minute walk from home, there are Vietnamese, Filipino, Brazilian, Salvadorian, Mexican, Southern, etc etc etc... shops and markets. At least four nail and hair salons that I've passed, bars and clubs, not to mention the neighborhood convenient stores, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Subway, McDonalds, I-Hop, Wendy's and everything in between. I live in a brick house in a row of brick houses but life and downtown is 2 blocks away in every direction.

Which is mostly good.

Except I like shorts, and skirts, and dresses. And men here are doubly bold with their whistles, looks, honks, and comments. I'm a feminist who has her own quirky sense of style but I'm still a single female in a city so maybe I do have to like the shorts and skirts a little less because myth of the Southern gentlemen or not, men are men everywhere. And they're bolder in the city where pretty girls are a dime a dozen. So part of the adjustment process and being taken as an adult is to perhaps tone down my wild, sometimes flirty fashions a bit, so I can be seen for my mind rather than men's ideas of rap video vixens.

Work in a few days.