The warmer weather has brought some harsh feelings of "something is missing" for us. Diana was telling me today how Facebook is so essential to keeping some kind of connection with the world. I can only imagine how hard it is for her, since she doesn't go to a job every day (I'm thankful for her PEPS group in that respect). For me, I'm not looking at Facebook as much as I'd like to, and when I do, I feel like I'm mostly talking and not listening. It's a weird thing to love the changes in your life while hating the things you no longer have.
There are actually five specific things that I miss, in no particular order...
Cedar Point
This has been harder than I expected. It's not an issue of the rides, mind you, but more the location and concentration of interaction with friends there. I mean, my best man works there, it's the place I immediately went following traumatic events in my life like my first layoff and separation, nearly every romantic partner in my life had some involvement there... it just ended up being the center the universe for so many unexpected reasons. And yes, Millennium Force is there. It's taking everything I've got to not go out there for the GKTW fundraiser.
Hot Tub
Despite my hot tub being the location for various things like first kisses and other assorted naughty things, it's actually the quiet solitude that it provided me that I miss. In the winter, getting naked in 25 degrees with snow on the deck, taking those three steps under the starry sky into that 100 degree water... that was amazing every time. In the summer, believe it or not, scaling it back to 97 degrees was outright refreshing, and I'd get out there in the middle of the day and make vitamin D. But the real win was the zen-like state it left me in, what with the regular shooting stars or the sound of critters in the woods when the timer turned off the jets.
Winking Lizard
There was nothing "special" about food at the Winking Lizard, but that was kind of the point. It was all pretty typical stuff, but the best typical stuff you could have. We became regulars at the Brunswick location after it opened, and got into a regular pattern of dinners with certain friends as well. We'd take out-of-town family there. We'd hit the more exotic locations like downtown before a Cavs game, or the Peninsula store to take in some National Park scenery. Like CP, it became one of the places that we made synonymous with friends. It fits in a category with places like Tommy's and Melt, and even BWW, despite being a national chain.
Five Dollar Movies
OK, so this one doesn't count as much, since I couldn't do it even if I wanted to now, being a dad and all. The Cinemark at the mall in the next town was only $5 for the first matinee, every day. It was a really comfortable theater too, with generally good sound systems. I saw a lot of movies last summer, pretty much one every week. Some of them ended up not being very good, but it didn't matter. It was a ritual I really enjoyed.
Weather
I should probably qualify it as summer weather. All of the bullshit about Seattle being a rainy suicide-driven place is nonsense. Of course it rains a lot in the winter... that's because it doesn't snow! It's almost Florida-like in its winter precipitation, because you generally get peeks of sun in between the rain. Cleveland winter can give you snow and gray skies for weeks on end. Summer, so far, has been cold. I actually wore a jacket on July 1, and that sucks. I miss the heat and humidity that feels so good coming out of an air conditioned building that felt so good to go into. I miss thunderstorms that shake your house, with lightning that shows how awesome nature's light show can be.
Again, I have to be clear that I'm not particularly unhappy or miserable here, I just want it all. The starting-over factor here is hard, when your friend circles are tiny and you have virtually no history rooted in the place you live. That's weird for someone who spent 36 years in one area. I can't wait for our fall events, when we can get the band back together, so to speak.
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