Eyes, prizes
My eyes are firmly trained on the circles I’ve made on a calendar. Muddling through minutiae doesn’t seem quite as agonizing when countdowns are in place.
Tonight - Guster returns to Harborlights
“Enjoy your youth, kid,” I was told. “Getting older sucks.”
I’d modify the statement, myself. Getting older is a strange, occasional surreal experience with good points and bad. I’m 30 years old with a trick knee and muscles that don’t respond as well to the crazy antics my sports-playing self took for granted. I’m a night owl who needs to take a slightly more early-bird approach to a schedule. And there are little humans running about that belong to people my age. It’s weird.
But there’s the flip side. And among the many benefits that come with more experience comes the fact that I can track my adulthood through music. I’ve carried some bands with me along the way - and sometimes they’ve carried me.
Guster’s on that shortlist. So while I’m looking forward to seeing them perform at Harborlights (call it the Pavilion, but it’ll always be Harborlights to me), I’m also excited to feel the associations that come with songs. “So Long” takes me back to thoughts of a guy otherwise forgotten; “Come Downstairs and Say Hello” is now, with my Boston frame of mind, the fulfilment of a promise I made myself as I looked at the band through misty eyes in Vermont. The band’s catalog is my personal soundtrack. It’ll be nice to take that trip down memory lane.
September 1 - Moving Day
Much as I obviously enjoy context, I equally fond of opportunities for blank slates. I like fresh pieces of paper, and I enjoy empty walls waiting for signs of life. And my new living situation bodes well: The opportunity to turn a place into a home with two people I like and respect is an exciting one. I’ve been willing September to just hurry up already all summer long. Now my books are in boxes and I’m making “Keep, Toss, Goodwill” piles of clothing. It’s almost here.
September 16 - Bruins Training Camp
I’ve always hated winter, and yet I’m thrilled for the return of a game played on ice. Go figure.
It’s been a shorter summer than I’ve ever known, and yet it’s never felt longer. I said goodbye to the 2010-2011 season by standing with a friend on an otherwise empty Van Ness Street, waving to the team bus as it pulled away from festivities at Fenway Park - and smiling at the sight of the players waving back. Other than the occasional glimpse of the Stanley Cup and the opportunity to personally thank three players (Nathan Horton, Daniel Paille, and Shawn Thornton) for their contributions, I’ve been going through hardcore hockey withdrawal. I handled it well, but I’m ready to get back to the Garden and see my guys again.
October 6 - Bruins Opening Night
See above and up the anticipation.
October 24 - Europe
I’ve traded in every bit of vacation time I have so that I finally expand my travel experience beyond the U.S. (Montreal doesn’t really count when you grow up in Vermont). Two weeks, four countries, one mighty Danube River, my best friend, and a 31st birthday celebration in Budapest.
