Dear America,

Oh hey. Remember me? Sorry I haven't really been around lately (I'm sure my presence has been well-noted and clearly missed). I'll be back soon enough but for now seeing you from afar has given me a totally different idea about our relationship. I'll always have a special place for you in my heart as home sweet home but sometimes seeing this new culture/mentality/society/education/life makes me want to call you up saying, "Helloooo buddy, you're doin' it wrong!"

Shout out to the cool kids, let's kick it back with our Nintendo buddy Mario. You know how once he finally gets his stuff straight in one world, finally struttin' around like a champion, he moves onto the next one in which he faces a completely new environment with new challenges and new monsters, etc? That's more or less me, except I (hopefully) lack a perfectly grown, classy mustache.

But: the things we do right, we really do right. Don't let your ego get too big if I give you some ideas of the reasons I love you the most, ok?

Tastes.

Peanut Butter. Cinnamon-Swirl Bread. G's Burgers Cheeseburgers. Snapple. Fruit Smoothies. Chicken Caesar Salad (don't tell Karen). Red Apples. Chilis. Bagels. A Big Weekend Breakfast. American Coffee.

Sounds.

The buzz of baseball games and sewing machines. Babies. The silence of a Woodbury Road night.  Hot937. Wednesday night babysitting @ church. The home phone's ringtone. The beauty of English. 

Places.

My room. Young's Farm. DUBP. Woodbury. My back deck. The houses I enter without knocking. Our classy McDonald's. The passenger seat of the cars I frequent. The course of my run. Our little countryside.

See.

If I miss you, we both know I don't need to publicize it to boost my Internet fame. My favorite American sights would be the faces of those whom I love the most. It's my sisters and my parents and my best friends and my babies and Tommy the Mailman and Harry the Garbageman and all the workers at the stores I frequent and the kids around town I barely know but greet like lost friends and basically anyone I've  known at some point or another. EXCEPT MY DOGS. 

Reunited and it feels so good...

Oh, speaking about animals that really grind my gears... let's all take a minute to all really appreciate how lucky I am to be alive. Once upon a time - aka a few days ago - I actually had to call Mamma Carla at work to report a special missing cat.

"Hey, it's me, Nat... uhm, Luca wanted me to call you.. I just thought you should know I've been looking for Callipso for 40 minutes now and she's nowhere to be seen. I mean... it's a tiny apartment... so I think I would have seen her by now if she was still in the house... Do you think she got out? Oh, this is so my fault. Fede's going to kill me. I didn't even mean to-"
"I'll be right home." OMG GAME OVER. Don't worry, that rude little four-legger showed up about two minutes later after playing a good game of hide and go seek on the balcony. Sometimes I swear I can hear her laughing at me in mockery.

Okay, America. It's been great catching up. Thanks for listening. Appreciate those things I mentioned, alright? They are amongst your finest qualities. All my love.

Sincerely,

Me

SHHH DON'T TELL MY

DAD BUT THIS IS ME NOW.

My blog without photos is like a book without pictures - forreal, what's the point? Sorry kids, I won't let it happen again.