It's All About Perception

I'm fond of saying that I never thought I would move back to Maryland, and if things had gone differently back in the day I probably wouldn't have.  Even though we've been living in Maryland for the past six years part of me has always considered this a temporary situation.   It's not that anything is overwhelmingly terrible about living in the Old Line State, as a matter of fact there are things I enjoy about living here.  Part of us would like to be closer to the other half of the family, in the Midwest, and all of us would love to find a way to relocate back to Chicago; the city which we both love and where we met.

It's interesting to me then when a dear friend from our past comes to town for a few days and visits Maryland for the 1st time.  Our friend, in town for a brief conference in DC, arranged his travel plans so he could visit Annapolis and meet our daughter.  The last time I saw this friend was 5 years ago when I drove through Missouri on my way to our wedding in Minnesota.  The friend was, then, a father to a newborn baby boy, and would not be able to make the trip to Sara's and my nuptials.  That was ages ago.  Now he has two young sons, Sara and I have a daughter and we are all in a different place in our lives.

Our friend seemed to really enjoy Annapolis.  We walked around downtown, checked out the Naval Academy, ate some local fare/crabs and even went for a little kayaking excursion on the Severn River.  It was odd to see our neighborhood, our city, and our lives through the eyes of someone else.  It made me wonder if I sometimes neglect to appreciate what we have and where we are.  When my friend snaps a picture of the river, I stop and wonder when the last time I really noticed the beauty of the river.  When he wanted to walk around the Naval Academy and just take in the architecture it made me feel silly for not having gone there and checked it out since we moved back.  When he savors every morsel of crab he picks from the carcass of a blue crab... well, there I'd have to say I've always loved eating crabs.

It was a good visit.  He joked several times about moving to Annapolis.  This morning as I dropped him off at the Metro station so he could go into DC for his presentation I was sad to see my friend go but happy to have had him visit our family.  Peck is a friend whom, even though we sometimes lose touch, always makes me appreciate the friendship we shared in the past and the bond that grows as we do.  I had a wonderful time.