Dorothy said it best...

After a long journey down the yellow brick road that featured a talking scarecrow that could not walk for shit, a tin man that danced like a sonofabitch, a lion that would tare a hippopotamus from top to bottomus and a wicked witch that would stop at nothing to get her ruby slippers back, we learn from Glinda the "good" witch of the north that all Dorthy had to do in order to return to her beloved Kansas was close her eyes, click her heals three times and repeat the phrase, "there's no place like home."  Next thing she knew she was waking up in her bed surrounded by her friends and family welcoming her back from the land of Oz.  Really?  Miles and miles of yellow brick road, lions tigers and bears, a shit load of flying monkeys ALL while a witch is trying to fucking kill her and her friends?  That's all she had to do to get home?

Put your fucking wand down and explain yourself...

HEY, GET BACK HERE!!!

While it might have seemed like a dick move by someone who's suppose to be good, in the end it was necessary for Dorothy to learn the true value of friends and family and how important it is to never forget who you are and where your from.  If it means having a witch throw huge fucking balls of fire at you then so be it.  It will teach you to not spontaneously run away from home again wont it?  Your poor auntie Em was worried sick.

After being away for close to five months I got a chance to visit my home town of Waterville Maine last weekend.  Unlike Dorothy I left my home town without the aide of a Tornado.  I packed everything I could fit into my 98' green ford ranger and put peddle to the metal towards Chicago.  It took me a while, but I'm finally starting to get things churning out here.  If you've ever made a big move like that it can be easy to forget that starting life over takes time.  You go from an area you know like the back of your hand to an area that you've never seen, heard or experienced before.  Not to mention its an area that's fucking HUGE compared to Waterville Maine.  Its almost like relearning how to walk.  When my plane touched down in Portland everything was exactly how I remembered it.  I could not help by think of those last lines in the Wizard of Oz "There's no place like home."  Seeing my parents and brother Matt (who had made his own trip from New York) for the first time since the end of August was a little bit surreal.  Its a weird feeling when your home state is no longer your home.

During that weekend I fell right back into place with my friends.  It was almost as if I had never left.  We all told the same stories, ate the same food, drank the same beer and had just as much fun as we always have.  Except this time my tiny apartment in Chicago was constantly in the back of my mind.  Even though I was having the time of my life with the best friends and family in the world, I was anxious to get back to my new life of not knowing what the next few days will hold.  It dawned on me that during these past five months, I have without even realizing it come to embrace what I was afraid of when I first got out here.  Everything in Maine was the same, everything back in Chicago was still new, exciting and even a little bit scary.  The rush I had been living for those past 5 months had slowed down to a crawl... as good as it was to be home I was not ready for things to slow down.  

Taking it one day at a time with a new job, new friends and new opportunities is something I will continue to look forward to while I plant my roots out here.  It might suck ass that I'm not three heal clicks away from Waterville, but that won't keep my friends and family away from my heart.  They will always be there along with the thoughts that if the roots don't grow the way I want them to out here, I've got no spaz of a wicked witch keeping me from going back.