Well, not really, given that my home address ends in an 80202 ZIP code. But it really does feel that way, still. I wasn’t born there, I wasn’t raised there, but when I deplane in Logan it really does feel like coming home. More than any other city, in fact – Denver included. Adding to the effect was the fact that the kind folks at the Royal Sonesta – my home away from home Tuesday evening – set me up with a room with a postcard quality view of the Boston skyline (if not postcard quality photo).
Don’t get me wrong – Denver’s a phenomenal place to live, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to move out here. Nor is Boston the perfect city. But nothing feels quite like Boston, where I lived for only a brief 3 year stint. Maybe it’s the fact that a mumble of “how ya doin'” to a stranger isn’t a rhetorical question here in Denver, maybe it’s an absence makes the heart grow fonder bit (although my lack of a similar sentiment for NYC throws undermines that claim), or maybe it’s just nice to be in a place where everyone else is rooting for the same team, but Boston will always have a special place in my heart.
This past weekend, I was over at one of Denver’s iconic hotspots, the Cherry Cricket, watching the Broncos game with a couple friends of mine and as the entire bar cheered raucously at each Denver touchdown I thought back to the times I used to spend at the 21st Amendment in Boston watching Sox games. Same principle, different teams, different towns. And so it was that I was pleased to find myself in that exact establishment Tuesday evening surrounded by many of the same friends from Boston when the news that the Sox had won the bidding for Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, and even more gratified to hear the entire bar cheer the news.
It was like coming home, in fact.