Then and Now, again....

Yesterday, I had lunch with a few friends at the wonderful Uduipi Cafe which has become the official lunchtime buffet of 64th and Broadway, Barcelona. Great food, good service and a decent price. I didn't even need to pay the price as friends picked it up, so even better!

At one point in the conversation, a friend who has lived here nearly his whole life asked me what did you think of Indianapolis when you were younger? I had to think for a moment. Growing up in South Jersey, there weren't many times that Indianapolis even showed up on your radar. Perhaps when the Pacers beat the Sixers, or around the Indy 500. Yes, I remembered joking around with my Phys Ed teacher in high school that all Indianapolis had was a racetrack. In short I never imagined living here. Transplants usually move to "bigger" cities. Chicago, New York, LA. I didn't go out to school out here I was invited by my current roomate to live out here post college. After visiting him when he lived in Woodruff Place I saw enough of the city to think that this is a place I could live.

Most mornings when I walk out of the parking garage towards the museum I can look south down Illinois St and see the skyline of the city. And for whatever reason, that makes me feel fortunate to live here.

My roomates parents are in town this weekend. They visited the museum as well this morning. They golfed and walked Broad Ripple yesterday. After they had dinner at our house they walked around our neighborhood, suddenly christened SOBRO by realtors. I ran thhe same route that they walked earlier in the day. The past few mornings that I have been running I have been really appreciative of my surroundings.

Holy crap is this disjointed. There seem to be more than a few people my age who have had had visions of flight away from Indianapolis for one reason or another. And most of those people have been here there whole life. But as a transplant I think its a bit different. When asked what I thought about Indianapolis when I was younger, I didn't have a real answer. Indianapolis was a blank slate. I had no real expectations or imaginings of what the city was.

I've lived out here since 1999, and thought seriously of moving away only once. And that was to avoid heartbreak brought on by people, not the city. When, asked now what I think of Indianapolis, I can only answer, it's home. In high school I never would have imagined that. Now, it's a city I am proud to call home.