Date #4
“How was your Summer?”
“Oh, it was great.”
“Yeah?”
“Best Summer.”
Technically, when I moved to Boston to live with Xue for the Summer it was only the fourth time we had gotten together. Maybe that means we’re moving a bit fast? Or perhaps, if you consider that she and I had our one-year anniversary on August 5th, it could mean we’re taking things very slowly. Or maybe we’re doing it just right, I think so.
When I flew into Boston at the end of May she met me with flowers and root beer. I almost knocked another traveller over when running to greet her. We took the T back to her place in Allston and the city felt very familiar.
We went on a tweed ride!
I worked for the Dutch Bicycle Company in Somerville, occasionally tuning up bikes and helping customers. Primarily, I was there as a not-even-wet-behind-the-ears-yet engineer, generously hired without a real interview or degree. Dan and Maria, owners of the DBC, gave me a great opportunity to design a few small projects for them, it was very much a sweet gig and I look forward to seeing if anything I designed for them comes to fruition.
Xue and I went to her boss’s wedding! She helped me dress myself as not an asshole, and we danced until we fell down. We fell in front of her boss, of course.
Cohabitation with Xue came completely naturally. We both wondered at what point the sharing of personal space would drive us to hate one another, and well, we’re still waiting. I’m not going to say I was surprised we got along so well, but I couldn’t imagine how great it would feel to come home to her everyday, or how much I would relish simple things like sharing a home cooked meal.
That is not to say that we didn’t eat out. We did, and often, and I loved it. There was bubble tea and awesome pizza, and countless disappointingly small burritos. There was an anniversary dinner with over a dozen dishes and another excuse to dress up.
Xue’s friends in Boston were all so nice! May they live forever in my twitter feed.
We traveled a little, as far as upstate New York for a family reunion and as near as Walden Pond to dip our feet in the cool clear water. Before the end of my stay we drove South to Connecticut with Xue’s parents (and the entirety of her belongings in the trunk). We made more than one trip to Ikea.
Looking back I wish I had written more often while I was there. Xue had encouraged me to do so, as she does with most things I enjoy, but I was stubborn. I am stubborn. One of my primary motivations for writing here and elsewhere is to force a little structure and sensibility upon my thoughts. Living with her it was so much easier to just hurl my idea over to her brain and listen to what bounced back.
I’m really glad I brought my digital camera, but I probably could have left my 35mm and my Polaroid in Chico. The 1200 photos I took will go a long way in keeping me from forgetting the best Summer yet.