Strange in a stranger land...

They say you can never go home again.

I'm up in Maryland, in one of the DC suburbs, on business this week. My flight in was uneventful, though I discovered that when flying into Reagan National, that passengers are not allowed out of their seats for the last 30 minute of the flight (so recycle that caffeine before the 30-minute mark!). It was mostly a non-issue for me, although I finished David Weber's Service of the Sword during that window, and couldn't get another book out of my carry-on.

The drive from the airport up to where I was staying could best be described as a comedy of errors. Mapquest directions were simple enough - GW Parkway to the Beltway to 270... Normally, I'm not particularly navigationally challenged, but between all the little exits and merges, I ended up on Constitution Ave. in downtown DC. Not a particularly big worry - I'd been in downtown DC before (mainly due to numerous field trips as a child), and I knew I needed to go north. So I try to go north, and some streets looked familiar and some didn't, and eventually I saw a route number that looked familiar so I followed signs for it, coming to Georgia Ave. AHA! I knew exactly where this street went, so I followed it up (a long stop'n'go way) to the Beltway and got to where I needed to be.

Although I confess it took me a while once I got up to my destination city to actually *find* the company I was visiting. I made a wrong turn, and on the way back ended up in a turn lane and back on the interstate, but I did make it.

Things have changed. A lot. I've been gone from the area 14 years, and I scarcely recognize it anymore. Even in the city of my youth, the downtown area has been seemingly completely overhauled, though a few landmarks are still around. It's all changing, all too quickly it seems. The area I grew up in is so unfamiliar now, and it's certainly doesn't feel like 'home' anymore. I guess that's what they mean by "can't go home again". As much as I gripe about Florida, I must concede that's my home now.

But maybe that's because my family is there. Home is where your heart is.