leaving the east

In many ways, it was hard to leave Jason's family in Maryland. We had set up home in Mick's lawn (and contributed the obligatory 1% for art in the form of various tire markings). We'd gotten into the groove of their daily schedule, recognized the specific beep pattern for Mick's firehouse when it came across the scanner, listened to Mark Jr. entertain himself in the driveway while he waited for the bus. True, we couldn't deny being excited to hit the road, because we're westerners through and through (me by birth, Jason by decision), but I still thought of bunches of undone things, unhad conversations, uneaten crabs. I guess that's why they make vacations and telephones. But still. It was surprisingly jilting to take off again. Being nomads has its downsides. One of our final goodbyes was with baby Alex, who made his way to the glass door after we'd gone out: