Every time I leave any kind of reunion of my college friends, I always find myself in a funk for the next few days. If I haven’t written about it before, I have clearly talked about it ad nauseum. These reunions always leave me homesick. Unfortunately, I’m nostalgic for a home that no longer exists. Everyone is scattered across the country these days, so no matter how much I miss an Alex or a Kevin or a Jennifer or a Blake, I know that it is impossible for me to live in the same place as all of them. That said there is some hope in the not so distant future. Blake has tossed out a plan for everyone to move to Austin by 2015. It is unlikely that everyone will follow through, but not impossible. Austin seems to be in everyone’s top two choices, so really all we have to do is all find jobs. My hope is for Chris to quit consulting, start his own company, and hire all of us. But he might be too smart of a businessman to do that.
After leaving last night from Austin, we drove for about 4 hours before spending the night at a Days Inn in San Angelo. This morning we left bright and early for our first destination: Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell is absolutely as kitschy as you can possibly imagine. The local McDonald’s has a Flying Saucer that “crashed” into the side of the building. The local Wal-Mart has alien faces next to the normal logo. We ate at the “Not of This World Bistro” on a street lined with souvenir shops. The crown jewel, though, was clearly the International UFO Museum and Research Laboratory.
Give me 10,000 words and I’m not sure that I could fully capture everything that was wrong and wonderful about the UFO Museum. First, it is laid out completely backwards. All of the exhibits go from right to left, so it is a little bit like trying to read the Torah. Secondly, there was nothing particularly high tech, such as a “TV” or an “overhead projector”. Most of the evidence was presented in boldface type on 8’1/2 by 11 sheets of paper (complete with numerous typos). Still other evidence was presented in diorama form using the style usually popularized by students in 5th grade science fairs. And lest I forget, the final exhibit is a life-sized model of an alien autopsy. Finally, and in my mind most impressively, was an artist’s rendering of the future “International UFO Museum and Research Laboratory” that they are currently raising funds for (2nd photo). This is what the current museum looks like (it is even less impressive on the inside). I’m sure they are really close to the $50 million dollars that they will surely need.
We stayed the night in Santa Fe, which could not have been any more different than Roswell. Santa Fe and its surrounding area are absolutely gorgeous. Every building is made of adobe and every city block seems to have multiple art galleries. It is a pretty incredible place to visit and I could maybe see myself living there for a couple of months, but I don’t think it would fit me very well for the long term. The average Santa Fe resident (or maybe they were just the tourists drawn to Santa Fe) seemed to be a free-spirited dropout from society. I honestly don’t mean that to sound insulting…I honestly find it to be refreshing and a little inspiring. I just don’t think that I could ever do it. We caught a few songs of an African tribal concert in the city square and there were probably 50 people dancing as if they were in the middle of The Dead’s set at Woodstock. All I could think of at the time was how silly they looked and they had to be poseurs to be dancing like this to some middling world music. Then it hit me…these people really meant it. If it were me, I’d have to fake it. But these people really belonged there.
It was an interesting day in New Mexico, but it left me with more regret than I expected. My high school /freshman year of college girlfriend Sandy has recently moved to Albuquerque and invited us to stay for the night. I haven’t seen her in 9 years, and I felt a little weird about bringing the whole group to our reunion. I briefly considered separating from the group for the night, but then I would have abandoned my brother Jon (who is with us from Austin to San Francisco) with 4 people he just met the day before. And beyond that, I think I was probably a little scared to see her again. Out of every girl I have ever dated, our separation is the only break-up that I still blame on timing. Most relationships I have been in never had much long term potential, or the chemistry was not right. Even Kiley, who I dated for over three years, never would have worked in the long term. The way we see the world just differs too fundamentally.
Sandy was different, though. Who knows what would have happened if I met her at 23 instead of 16. I didn’t love her more than I loved Kiley, but our lives and our interests fit together better. We had similar, evil senses of humor and we saw both saw the world in the same, skewed way. And our conversations always popped in that 40’s Hepburn/Grant kind of way. For people as naturally awkward as us, that is a rare find.
I admit that I probably over thought this invitation for enchiladas and margaritas. It wasn’t like I was going to stop by, immediately fall in love all over again, and abandon the rest of my road trip to live in New Mexico. Nor was I likely to come by, have an awful time, and have ruined all of the memories of the two years that we dated. I am sure that we would have had a pleasant conversation, told a few old stories, and parted as friends. But in the end, I decided it was better to leave the past to nostalgia. It is a decision that I instantly regret.
What I Am Listening To: Counting Down the Hours – Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Halfway Home – TV on the Radio, & I’ll Be Your Man – The Black Keys
Next Stop: Sedona, AZ
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