Today I Miss Brotherly Love...

...Not the kind between my brothers and I. On a day like today, when it is nice and cool and sunny outside, I miss the neighborhood I lived in outside of Philly. Isn't nostalgia a wondeful thing. When I lived there, everything seemed great. Everyone got along with each other. All my neighbors would end up sitting on each others' porches drinking smoking and yelling conversations across the street to one another. On my last visit to Philly I found out that the people that moved into the house we lived in, had already been evicted (This took less than 6 months, although I probably should not have been surprised. They had a dog named Hitler.) and the new tenant was running a 24 hour "pharmacutical" sales operation out of the house. This was discovered on the second to last day of my trip when I couldn't visit my old neighbor because they were pulling a body out of my old house and I was not allowed near the area. It was very surreal to watch the news and see police hauling a sheet draped corpse out of the front door that was mine less than 6 months prior. Anyhow, I find myself yearning for the barbeques at Big Guy's house, the walks along the railroad tracks to the river with my neighbors and their kids, the Saturday night poker games, and yelling from porch to porch.

I miss being 2 hours away from the shore (even if it was Jersey),2 hours away New York City, 2 hours away from Washingon D.C.(even though I only got to go once the whole time I lived there), 2 hours away from the Poconos, and being able to drive into the city on I-76 along the Schulkyl River. On a day like today, people are out on the river by Boathouse Row, running and biking in Fairmont Park and by the art museum. The lines seemed to go on for miles at the landmarks including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. As well as, at the cheesesteak joints Pat's, Gino's and my personal favorite, Tony Luke's in south city.

I don't really miss the traffic and how rude a lot of the people are in the northeast. Growing up in the midwest, I learned say hello to people that I pass on the street and expect a response other than a grunt or silence coupled with a look that seems to say, "Leave me alone and go away." However, the character of the city as a whole really worked for me and today I am finding myself really missing it and the friends that I made there.