bye bye brooklyn

Tonight is my last night in fair Brooklyn (at least for a few weeks). I can’t say that I’m particularly sad to leave. I do like it here, and I’m pretty crazy about the new friends I’ve made. But I’ve hardly had time to form a sincere attachment to any of it. And, well, home is pretty tough to beat.

This past Saturday, I made plans with some friends to tour the Brooklyn Brewery. We were all pretty excited and just about to head out the door. I asked Tessa to check online to see what stop we needed to get off at. In her search for the info, she discovered that the tours ended an hour earlier than I had thought. I was pretty bummed, but we decided to have a remedial bbq/beer party. And Tessa really came through with a Brooklyn Brewery Party Pack discovered at the local supermarket. Needless to say, I was stoked.

As the beer chilled, we helped ourselves to the mint growing aplenty in the backyard and whipped up some mojitos–almost too pretty to drink (but not quite). I have to say, I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to mojitos. My first experience was with a mojito so delicious, such a work of perfectly balanced mixology, that it’s difficult for me to settle for less. But I’ve yet to sip on a comparable blend. *sigh*

We planned ice cream sandwiches for dessert. I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, we smeared some Breyers Natural Vanilla between them, and, oh, we couldn’t ask for more.

This is what Brooklyn will be to me. It will be the place where New York finally started to feel a bit like home. Where friends didn’t act like it was a burden to visit. Where we fed the worms as well as we fed ourselves (scraps from our dinners were collected in a compost bin–those lucky lucky creatures feasted on canteloupe rinds, tomato bits, leftover onion…). Where the streets felt as safe as those of Kirksville–but not as familiar or warm. Where I realized NYC could be pretty as I glimpsed the Statue of Liberty silhouetted against a sky of sunset pinks and dusky blues. But most importantly perhaps, it will be the place where I realized I’d done something brave. And that it didn’t matter if I ended up following the path I’d try to lay for myself, because I’d at least gone far enough to see what defined it. And, here in Brooklyn, I realized that might be all I needed.