Time passing and memories

Since my first excited post about my trip to North America time has passed and the landscape of my memories of the events have taken different shapes. The other day Boston very deliberately ran the final part of the Boston marathon, not just for those who could not finish that fateful day, but to show that despite the dreadful event they were determined to complete the job and commemorate those killed as well as show solidarity and understanding with those injured and traumatised by the events. I just happened to fly in that day and felt like a detached observer of the unfolding and extraordinary story. But that also seems to have created a bond for me with the place and the people even though few met me and I remained outside the traumas so many suffered then and since. Boston will have a special place in my memories not directly because of what happened but because I witnessed people shocked but determined to live their daily lives as they had done before that day. I want and will go there again and so wish it was a place just down the road from me, so that I could get to know it like I do for those places that are literally just down the road from me. 

New York memories are always going to be dominated by the time I spent there with my cousin and his wife. This must have been my sixth or seventh visit and it is still not enough. This time I managed to add some new experiences I had wanted to achieve such as taking a gentle exploration walk through Central Park, going to my first ball game and others. But that is still not enough, memories need nurturing and refreshing.

As to Montreal that was a completely new experience linking me back to my school days and that Canadian teacher with his stories, and forward to the world of the built environment I have spent my working life involved in and creating. Finding I should be able to speak French there was a surprise and a challenge I was not able to rise to. Again I will just have to go back to really get to grips with such a similar but oh so different place. But I know one particular place I will not be going to again, the restaurant that I had the misfortune to go to and receive the worst meal I think I have ever tried to eat. They kept that experience alive for me I found when I checked my credit card statement. They had added another two dollars, presumably to reward themselves, with the tip I deliberately did not give them. I have contested it and have the receipt to prove their dishonesty. It has cost me more than two dollars to contest it but that is not the point.

So memories are funny things that latch on to your retrievable log of events sometimes for the oddest or most unwelcome of reasons, but in that mix is a rich treasure trove I will enjoy though time.