![]() ![]() Aside from a CVS that was housed in a historic building you could learn more about by scanning the QR code at the front, there were barely any signs of life. I think for sure I’ve lived in LA for too long, because I remember living in Danville and not feeling like it was quite as desolate as this entire metro area is. As far as downtown Bloomington is concerned, I am not sure exactly what I was expecting but what I found was definitely not what I had in mind. I saw a Kroger on the way – another East Coast thing that made me smile. I found myself with a bit of free time just after 4 pm and before dinner, so I decided to drive a couple of miles to downtown Bloomington, a town of 70,000. Monday came and went with conference presentations. It was great to have a familiar face and a good friend here since I was the only one traveling from LMU. How time flies! We chit-chatted a bit at the reception, then sat down at the hotel restaurant for a quick bite and catch-up. We’d kept in touch over the years and I’d visited her in NYC, but I was amazed to think back that the last time I’d seen her was about this time in 2013. I made a beeline to Martha – my old boss at LMU who’d ventured back East to head up the Business Intelligence program at the New School in NYC. With this strange feeling still haunting me, I finally got the my conference hotel, checked in and headed up for the opening reception, which had already been going for about on hour. It’s a strange feeling, re-encountering parts of your past this way. The black and white state route signs, the signs on the highway listing upcoming gas stations, restaurants and places to rest for the night, the big sky that surrounded you on all sides… all of this reminded me of a life I had lived so long ago, it seemed, that I wasn’t even sure I was the one who’d lived it. A wave of homesickness came over me – not that I would ever want to go back to Danville, VA, but to this day it remains the city (and state) I consider my American home. ![]() I hadn’t been back this far east since I moved to LA in 2009 and I knew I was in the Midwest but this all seemed very, very East-coast-like to me. The lack of people on the streets (and the lack of sidewalks, too), the few cars on the road, the general slower pace of life that I could feel even just driving through were great reminders of my own college town, Danville, VA. □Īs I entered the city of Normal – a college town with a population of just over 50,000, a very familiar feeling washed over me. I am still not sure if the two are related. I passed a sign for Pontiac, IL, on the way, which reminded me of my very first car. The drive took a couple of hours but because of the weather, I wasn’t able to really get a feel for my surroundings, other than the fact that the area around me was really, really flat. Gloomy skies and sprinkles greeted me upon arrival, and as I headed South from O’Hare towards Normal, IL, where my conference would be for the next 3 days, the sprinkles turned into steady rain. My flight on Virgin America was pleasant enough, and time quickly passed with Isabel Allende’s “Maya’s Notebook” in my hands. I departed LA on a sunny afternoon this past Sunday, April 19th. ![]()
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