This postcard soon will be on its way to my good friend, and former VW Beetle owner, Taleen in Providence. 
I don't spend much time longing for my past. I have many good memories, but I don't usually wish I could return to a previous time. But this afternoon, I wished I was back in high school. I think it was because I left work early so the sun was higher than it usually is when I head home and the day had turned unexpectedly warm and sunny and I was taking the T home at the time when all the high school students where getting out. They were talking too loud and laughing and bumping into their friends and high-five-ing, doing secret handshakes, and fiddling with their hair. In the swarm of all this youthful energy, while I was waiting for the bus, I felt like I usually do, like I needed to GET HOME. But then I suddenly channeled my high school self and thought, "What's the big hurry in getting home?". The contrast between hanging out with a gaggle of friends and my usual solitary trek home from work, made me feel too grown up, boring, and lonely. What I really wanted to do was blow off my homework, wander around, and see if I had enough change in my pocket to buy a blue raspberry Slush Puppy and some Swedish Fish at the convenience store. But I didn't have my best friend with me, which is an essential component to goofing off during that wonderful suspense of time between being at school and home. Today I really wished Cynthia was there so we could find a patch of grass and look up at the sky and enjoy the sudden re-arrival of spring. We would discuss what other friend might be home and decide to walk to their house to see if they were. No cell phones or texting of course - we would just walk however many blocks it took, ring the bell, and see what happened. If they weren't home, onto the next thing. Maybe we could nonchalantly wander by Bob's house in case he happened to be mowing the lawn without his shirt on. Nothing to do and nowhere to be. What freedom!
