I love how, up in my small Maine town, everyone knows each other. Old people will tell anyone who listens their life story. I love the agricultural fair that happens every August, where young kids gawk at cows, and get together to ride the Ferris wheel. I love the demolition derby that happens on the last day, where you’ll get so wrapped up in all the excitement that, even if cars smashing into each other isn’t your usual cup of tea, you’ll still enjoy it. I love sitting in the field at my grandparents house, staring out at the mountains and field moths in the day, and watching the stars and fireflies at night. I love watching the group of people with their old boats make a little 4th of July parade each year on our lake, and joking with my grandfather that it’s for his birthday.
I love my city in Massachusetts, where, even among a population of 80,000 I always seem to run into the same 20 people. I love how everyone who walks by my home will complement my mother’s garden. I love how even as a younger generation has been rapidly growing, we still have older people whose families have lived here for generations, who will never leave because this is their home. I love all of our seasonal college students who arrive from all around the world and flood the streets for 9 months, speaking in a beautiful myriad of foreign languages. I’m proud of the communal anger and uprising we all felt when one of our college students was kidnapped by the government. I love all the posters on street poles and trash cans, be they for a drag show thrift shop combo, a local gathering of communists, or simply someone wanting to put up a piece of paper and be seen. I love all the local restaurants I’ve been to a thousand times, and even though I know the menus by heart I still always check just in case I see something new. I love the community of old people who always have little protests on corners, who are angry and want change and want to be heard. I love our science labs and art museums, our beautiful old churches and our libraries, our corner stores and our cafes, our bookshops and our parks. I love my home.
