I drove downtown a couple weeks ago to make a hand-off to a friend who was hosting an event. As we traded a couple of quick comments trunk-side, she invited me to join in her activity. I thanked her but declined saying, "I've already made one trip downtown this week." I grew up living 20 miles away from New York City. Outside of my Dad bringing us in to work at his college or my aunt taking us to Broadway shows every so often, we almost never went there. Later, I worked in Chicago and managed the trains and buses in and out of the city for five years -- until I took a job in the 'burbs. Now, going to the city is largely for entertainment purposes, and I tend not to be the driver for those occasions. Despite what you might be intimating, I do not dislike cities. They truly do have a quality and magnetism all their own. But me DRIVING in the city is another story entirely. And life today seems like a nonstop ride in the city.
Where I write longer things....