Quality Time in the South

I'm sorry it has been a while since I've posted anything; one of my pet peeves is when blogs that I read don't get updated on a regular basis, so I feel bad that it has been over a week since my last post. However, I do have a good excuse: I am home for my sister's high school graduation.

While spending quality time in the Southeastern United States may not be everyone's idea of fun, it has been nice to see my family and friends and to remember some of the South's eccentricities. Although it is a little cliche, I'm always surprised at how much more laid-back people are here (at least compared to Boston). While this is usually a nice change of pace, I also have a tendency to get a little annoyed with this carpe diem mentality. Take, for instance, the people who decided that the middle of the street would make the perfect place for an impromptu baseball game last night. There were small children and their parents playing in the middle of a public street (not in a subdivision) that runs parallel to one of the city's busier streets. They were nice enough to halt their game so that I could drive past, but I couldn't help but think that this idea was not a particularly safe one.

The other shock I've had since being home is dealing with the price of gas. Since I am car-free in Boston and have no gas stations near my apartment or places of work, I haven't been paying a great deal of attention to gas prices. However, after paying $30 for eight gallons of gas, I can safely say that I look forward to returning to Boston and the comparably cheaper (if less reliable) public transportation system.

Besides trying to avoid children playing in the middle of the street and going into sticker shock at the pump, I've also had the chance to see a production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, but I'll save that for a later post.