Out of the woods, into the fire

Reimmersion. I departed Ely this past Monday morning at 6am for the airport, finally arriving home 16 hours later for my extended winter break. I had been yearning in the last week or so for the east coast, and was satiated as soon as I touched down in Boston. The Silver Line shuttle driver cut off an elderly man and proceeded to loudly berate and flip him the bird long after his Buick Century had been left in our smog billow. Breathe it in, that's home.
My wish to see more young people was also granted when I was assigned to Black Friday's midnight to 9am shift at my occasional job at--get ready-- J.Crew. ("...Her?") In case you missed it a moment ago, let me repeat: I was assigned to work a nine hour overnight shift on the busiest shopping day of the year directly after consuming my own weight in tryptophan. Frankly, seeing the way customers acted that night I can't imagine that the economy didn't come charging and ululating out of the grave to run around the country kicking in people's windows and lighting cars on fire. Also of note is that while driving/whining into Freeport nursing a mug of black tea I passed Santa on a motorcycle leading a pack of roughly 100 people running down Main Street. Men in short shorts, children, teenagers in jeans, dogs, mothers pushing strollers, the Grinch. I checked the papers the next morning but the incident remains unexplained.
Another sign that I was home came during a lunch break one day. I found myself eating sushi while reading The New Yorker, wearing a cardigan and ballet flats and still blending into the background, despite sitting in LL Bean's hunting and fishing department. (Hi, New England!) I also spent an large amount of time this week advising middle aged women on what to wear on their cruise to the Bahamas this year.
So, I'm on a break from the northland until Christmas. I'm leaving today to spend three weeks on a European beach with my far-flung boyfriend and plan to have a delightful time. Stay tuned for northland updates though-- I still have plenty of anecdotes up my sleeve.