Random differences, but important nonetheless

While driving through southern Indiana this afternoon, I really took in the atmosphere. The greenery, the wildlife and the realization that I would soon be trading it for very different surroundings. The biggest difference, though, will be that I was in fact driving.

Due to the high price of parking a vehicle in NYC and the impossible driving course that is Manhattan, I will not be taking my car to the city. Apparently I will need to learn the subway routes and get accustomed to seeing rats on the tracks. (I saw two in my four day visit earlier this month!) Transportation will most likely be the most challenging change for me during my transition. No longer will the term "railroaded" be used in my vocabulary as I'm sure the New York natives have never heard of the term. The coasting of my Ford Escape behind a John Deere on a back road will soon become the abrupt stop-and-go of a taxi behind a Maserati.

Now to completely change the subject...

I had the opportunity of attending karaoke at a local restaurant this week where I realized there is something about the Midwestern feel that I'm really going to miss. As I watched the 60-year-old man dressed in plaid sing Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" while incorporating hand gestures to the line "Picture this we were both butt naked..." (you know the rest), I paused to really see the charm of it all. Where else can you get this kind of sheer entertainment that makes you feel so uncomfortable because the performer is so comfortable? Not Broadway! Only in a small town of Indiana will you see these characters who butcher every country song in the books and feel as if they truly are Keith Urban or Tim McGraw putting on a concert.

Similarities will be few, but I'm ready for the "new."