Leaving the island

Robert Frank, Sick of Goodby’s via That's A Negative

The rumors are true. We are pulling up the stakes, hitching up the trailer and packing it in. Or any other cliche you can use to describe the phenomena otherwise known as moving. It's been a good run over here on the island and it seemed rather eerie timing that our local neighborhood cinema closed it's doors only days ago. That it might have had more to do with the gargantuan cineplex opening it's doors down the street, does not deter me from coming to the conclusion that it is the end of an era...albeit a rather short one only spanning about 23 months.

It's not that the quaintness wore on us, or that the endless beach access became, well, tiring, or even that our mere residence next to a park with lots of trees, plants and well-tended lawns had a kind of relentlessly upbeat positivity that didn't always jibe with our cynicalness. We could pretty much deal with all that. No, it's more the fact that we are lazy and needed more space and that the easiest thing to do was to simply take over our friends' lease when they themselves skipped outta town.

Not that there are things we won't miss. Like the sounds of the local baseball team cheering us on as we come home from work, or the sight of children haphazardly jumping off of swings or the smell of the nothing-but-barbecue summers. And it's not like there aren't plenty of things that we will be gritting our teeth over as we tip toe back to the ghetto, like, oh, people shitting on our front porches or car horns blaring at 6 in the morning, or the overall lack of fresh fruit and produce available at the corner liquor store. But hell, more than anything right now I could use a little more space. And I think all of us, family dog included, would benefit from a change of scenery.

Well, we had a nice run. When I first settled on the island, it was just me, some boxes and a couch on its last legs. Now, not only have I collected much more hand-me-down furniture, I have also accumulated a dog and a boyfriend (in that order, at least, chronologically speaking.) One day when I grow up, I would like to move back to the island as it seems like it is hospitable to young children and a nice place to spread out when you decide it's time to let yourself go.

Until then, we will miss you.