After being home for six days, I think I’m ready to leave. There’s something about St. Charles nowadays that gets me depressed — probably why I’ve spent as little time here as possible in the past two years.
Every time I am in town, there are fewer people to see. The people who are here are either busy or about to leave. I’ve kept a decent schedule for a week, but I know that pretty soon I’m just going to be sitting on the family room couch all day, watching bad TV and talking to the dogs. I have already decided to avoid my room during the day simply because I don’t want to deal with all of the boxes covering the floor, so the couch is really the only option. I’ve got a car and a little bit of gas money, but the number of places to drive is dwindling.
Even when I do see people, the effect is more of a downer than it should be. I went to CD Reunion today and talked to Sam for a while. Sam has been a constant at that store for years and years, but I’m always afraid I’ll go in one day and she won’t be there. But there she was today, opening the shipment of new albums and putting the discs behind the counter. We talked for a bit, and then I left without buying anything.
Saturday, I was invited to a birthday celebration in some roundabout manner. I don’t think I’d seen the birthday girl, Allison, in two years, and yet I had great fun hanging out with her and everyone else. But at the end of the night, after the dinner, the drinks and the board games, I couldn’t wait to get away from people. It was a good night, but I know it was an aberration — a blast from the past. High school is over, college is over, and nothing will change that. I suppose it’s time for me to give in to the inevitable and get a job and move on.
