I am: part of the economic development team in the NYS Executive Chamber; Rochester lover; southpaw
Years in Rochester: 21 if you count birth through high school graduation and 2.5 years working there as an adult
Current Home: Albany, NY
Dear Rochester,
I live about 202 miles away from you now, well outside range of
your satellite signals. But I can’t bring myself to change the presets on my
car radio. The order on the FM dial is
88.5/90.5/91.5/93.3/94.1/95.1/96.5/97.9/98.9/100.5/101.3/102.3/103.9/106.7/107.3;
and my AM presets are simply 1180 and 1370. I miss Beth Adams’ voice anchoring
my morning commute, and the Saturday funk parties on WDKX. But maintaining the
stations right where they are on the dash of my Honda is somehow reassuring in
an uncertain, callous world.
The act of changing them just seems so permanent and wrong. Like,
if I did, it would be akin to switching football teams…giving up carbs…or becoming a citizen of a different country.
Sometimes, when I come home to visit family, I’ll park my car
along Buckingham Street, where I used to live. I walk around like it’s still my
neighborhood, and I shop at East Ave. Wegmans as though it’s still my grocery
store. I’ll even buy milk, despite the 3.5-hour drive back to Albany.
I think I fell in love with you sometime when it was dark, in the
dead of winter, when snowflakes were quietly falling on the ice below the Broad
Street Aqueduct. I may have been snug in a booth at Dinosaur BBQ, looking out
the window.
You’re just wonderful. You make me feel warm when it’s freezing.
You give me comfort when life is harsh.
I love you just the way you are. The same goes for my car radio
presets.
Love,
Ana
No comments:
Post a Comment