Wow! Has my life changed. I used to go to sleep to the sounds of forest and wind, I now fall asleep to the sound of air planes, sirens, traffic, horns, music, and random city sounds. I am not sure why, but I keep experiencing the difference between my new home and my old one as sounds. In the grocery store I hear multiple languages, from Spanish to Asian and Middle Eastern speakers as well as a whole host of new accents. It is disarming and alluring, my head is constantly awash with new sounds, new sites, even new smells. I rode my bike into the city on Sunday and was amazed at just how different each block is. You will find yourself in a run down area, then suddenly the grass grows, shiny condos spring up and expensive cars sprout like weeds. Peddle another block and you suddenly come up on a raucous game of Mahjong surrounded by elderly Asian men. Another block and you are in the midst of towering buildings and elevated roadways.

I have to be careful not to allow my fascination with this amazing collection of people and cultures distract me from my bike ride as cars and pedestrians are constantly testing my ability to hold a straight line. Boston is a majority minority city, meaning that minority groups make up the majority of the population. This is in stark contrast to Cape Cod, which is a majority white, predominantly rich (although there are exceptions to both) location. I am missing the nature and the stunning ocean views of the Cape, but I have to admit I am finding the city pretty amazing. I like being exposed to new things, new places. I find many things I wish could be better. I pass abandon lots and see the future sites of urban organic gardens, I pass abandon buildings and can’t help but imaging setting up crazy art/bike/eco-hippy communes. I see giant buildings and think that they need to be coated with solar panels. But I also see a lot of things I really like. Lots of people are walking, the buses and the trains are full. The city is dense, everything is close to everything else. The swirling strange road layout makes it faster to walk or ride your bike than to drive a car. I only drive my car when I want to drive to NH to see Tess, and I am very happy about that. I can ride my bike to work, ride my bike to the store, ride my bike to the bike shop, ride my bike to everything. I can walk to the t-stop, and there is a bus line right near my house.

As I experience more I will keep you informed as to how coming in from the woods is effecting my life.