How did I end up here? Waking up in the middle of the morning to the sound of sirens in the street instead of the peace and quiet of the mountains of central Pennsylvania?
I always loved NY. Since the first time my mom brought me here when I was a kid. And yes there was a time when I was a kid. At times it seems so long ago. This city, and especially the Village, always had a hold on me. I don’t think a year has gone by since that first trip that I didn’t spend some time here. The museums, galleries and later the music and clubs. The crowded streets at three in the morning. I don’t think there is another place quite like it anywhere.
I met Ash my second year in college and we have been good friends ever since. That in itself says something about her because I have no idea how she could put up with me all this time. When we graduated she headed right for NY while a muddled along for years working on my masters.
All along my plan had been to move up with Ash after I finished my degree. But things never seem to go as planed and I was offered an almost perfect job at Penn State. I had to think long and hard about it but, in the end, it was just too good an offer to pass up. I did some teaching, met new people, and got to spend a lot of time with my brother who is now a senior there.
Than this past summer I spent some time with Ash and at the gallery she works at. I met the woman who runs it for the Swiss owners and ended up going home with a loose job offer. I think I spent two months torn over what to do. I remember somebody saying “I can't figure out if this is the gods dropping another gift in your lap, or the gods tempting you to fuck everything up again”. This was exactly my problem. The hold the Village has on me against my job at Penn State a place that has almost an equal hold.
In the end I had to do it or spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been. So here I am with the sirens blaring.
Hey I can always go back to the mountains …..
tuneage
