Looks like Lenny's goin' fishing!

Okay, so it took me a good 24 years or so, but I have finally learned to like my hometown.

I know a lot of kids who grow up in a small towns spend their formative years dreaming of getting the frick out of there. I was no exception.

When I was younger, I was absolutely positive I would someday live in a big city like New York or Chicago. It sounded terribly cosmopolitan to grab my breakfast at a deli, take the train to work and, of course, bitch to my friends about all the tourists from Hicksville.

While I still like New York and Chicago very much, and I think I could live there if I had to, I would be pleased as punch to live in a smaller city. And another thing! This town that I've been whining and complaining about since I moved here almost 14 years ago? I kind of like it! So there!

Now, at first, I was a little ashamed of this realization. Almost all of my friends from high school have moved to major cities. They went to Chicago, New York, L.A., D.C. and one even went to Hong Kong. I started thinking I had sold out in some way.

Then one day, my good friend Lisa (Lisa-Pants, if you're keeping track) called me. She and her friend Rachel had gone to New York for a week so Rachel could audition for grad school. Lisa was using it as a trial run to see if perhaps she'd like to move to New York someday. When I talked to her about it, one of the first things she said was, "They don't have any trees."

As the conversation progressed, I found myself agreeing with everything she was saying. I, too, need trees. I need to plant flowers and I need a back yard where I can lie in the grass and read when it's warm outside. I don't need to live in a log cabin in a heavily wooded area (cause, you know, that's where the bugs live), but I need grass, damnit!

That's when I realized that, well, I already have that. It was a very Dorothy-Glinda-No-place-like-home kind of moment. My hometown is quite pretty in the summer (except for the river that's the color of week old tuna) and despite the fact that it's not a bustling metropolis, we have a decent fine arts community.

Why, just this very evening is our Gallery Walk where businesses displaying local art are open to the wandering public, and I have a few friends whose work will be shown. Also, there's a place called the Main Street Wine and Cheese Shop that will be serving refreshments. In fact, they're offering something called a wine slushie. I ask you, how does that not sound phenomenal?

Not only do I like where I am, but I'm pretty sure I like where I'm going, too. In May alone, Boone, NC hosts events like Grandfather Mountain Naturalist Weekend (not nudists, I checked), Hayes Grass Festival (not sure about that one), Art in the Park and Nature Photography Weekend. I'm so excited, I could just spit.

In conclusion, stop whining, buy local and make yourself a slushie!