Going Home Again

I went back home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a conference. When I got to the hotel, the first thing I did--instead of heading over to the conference--was go straight down Wisconsin Ave to the lakefront. Many things look the same as they did when I left about 18 years ago, but there are some changes. There's a new addition to the art center that I learned was built in 2000 (see the white building above). There's also some other buildings in that area, and the whole lakefront looks more manicured and built that I remember it. As another photo above shows, there are restaurants along the Milwaukee river, although it's still as brown as ever.

I passed the bank where I once got chewed out for parking my bike there. The irony is that there are now two bike racks in front of the building. I don't know if riding my bike more is making me more aware of cyclists, but it seemed that every five minutes in the late afternoon I saw a cyclist going by down Grand Ave. The streets are wider and even during rush hour, the traffic is not too congested, so it's easier to cycle downtown. It seemed that a new generation of broke college students were riding their bikes, just as I did. Some had old beat up bicycles, but some had new modern bicycles (hmmm.....), while I'm riding the same bike I rode in Milwaukee years ago. The street names on all of the buses that went by were familiar.

I stopped at the Grand Ave mall and ate a gyro. Most people cannot figure out how to eat a gyro with any dignity and avoid eating them. Should one pick it up and eat it, or use a fork and knife to cut the meat? My boyfriend would order a gyro right along with me, and that's how I knew we were compatible. There was a Greek restaurant on Oakland avenue that served gyros piled high with lamb meat, and we liked to go there. I typically spent only $10 - $12 on food -- for the week. But on this day, I spent about $6 on lunch.

The conference closed with a Summerfest Party, and I hooked up with a group and went down to the lakefront for the music festival. The others walked to one end of the festival, and then back. I went with them, covered in memories that I tried to push to the back of my mind. Everything looked pretty much the same, although the festival has grown up. There's no charging into the main stage for a concert and there are more bathrooms. But the people watching is still pretty interesting! Then, much to my disappointment, everyone wanted to leave right away.

I kept bursting into tears as I walked around, homesick for the town I'd left so many years ago. I think when I was younger, I was anxious to leave and start a new life in the Washington, DC area, and I left under ambivalent conditions. Now that my oldest son is 18 and grown, I thought about the life and town that I'd left and almost wanted to come back.

Fortunately, when the plane landed in Maryland, I stepped back into the life I've made for myself and everything was as usual.