My dad was here over the weekend. We went up to Saratoga and saw the horses and relaxed and I loved it, and I suddenly realized something a bit scary to me. I am ready to move back to the midwest.

Now perhaps I am being too dramatic. It doesn't really have to be the midwest (sorry Mom and Dad), but I am so ready to move to a town where I can have a little garden, where I can ride my bike without risking my life and where saying there's "traffic" means there's some other cars on the road.

I don't even really appreciate the "culture" a large city has to offer any more. I have seen enough famous bands at large venues, enough Monets at beautiful museums and enough lectures at highly regarded institutions. I'm just tired. Give me a guy strumming a guitar at a coffee shop, who doesn't have to try to look "small-town" because he actually is, who's "indie" but hasn't ever thought of affixing said label to himself as proof of his hip vibe. Give me some paint and a front yard and a sunny afternoon to create my own masterpiece, and give me a place where the noise stops long enough that I can hear the insights of a good friend.

For these are the things, the little things, that make my heart feel big.