St. Petersburg Garden

St. Petersburg Garden

Monday, December 19, 2011

Out With a Bang

I am moving back to New York City. There I've said it. I'm still not really sure how I feel about it. I haven't talked about it much. Partly because my California friends have banned me from speaking about it.  They know how they feel about it.

Yes, we all know how they feel about it. So I haven't said much other than I'm moving. I knew the date was approaching. They knew the date was approaching. We just didn't realize it was approaching this fast. I had too many things that I still wanted to do. Still needed to do. I wasn't ready to go yet. I'm still not sure that I am ready to go.

 People keep asking me if I'm excited. I don't know what to tell them. I know, I know, it's New York. I love New York. Really, I do. It's where I'm from. It's the city, a great city. I don't need to be sold on that. I don't know what's holding me back. I realized before I started worrying about leaving I needed to focus on my final days.

It happens every time we go to an amusement park though. We live only an hour away from most parks. Two hours at the most. I have an amazing time. Dilemma you ask? No. But the thrills, joys and highs you get are fabulous. Especially when you know you live close by. That's right, close by. I won't live close by anymore.

But I'm still here. I will enjoy every last second. I had to get in some last important items. I knew there were some places we'd wanted to go forever. Now was the chance. We had to do it. It was time to end our year with a bang. We had to make it the best. weekend. ever. No pressure. None at all. I knew we were up to the task. So we went to top. The peak. The mountain. The mountain of magic.

Yes, we planned this. Shocking, I know.
What could be more perfect? A park filled with roller coasters. Nothing but coasters. It's pure genius. I had only dreamed of a place like this when I was little. It's all about the speed and drops. I love to feel like I'm flying.
We were excited all morning. We got there for the opening of the park. Winter in the park is phenomenal. No lines. Well, almost no lines. We breezed through almost every ride. Coaster after coaster - flying, soaring, looping, dropping - my face hurt from smiling so much. I walked around like I was living the perfect life. We were having fun and we were carefree. Even if it was only for a day.

Thoughts of moving were pushed away. Even though I knew I would be getting on a plane soon, too soon, I didn't think about it. I'm only thinking of it now, as I write this. We walked around the park for hours. No, really. Eight plus to be exact. It just meant we could eat more. Perfect.

I have always loved the feeling of flying through the air. That first launch where you feel the wind whipping through your hair and you can smell nothing but the air around you is amazing. Each time we went on a new coaster I felt free. I'm not a screamer. I'm a smiler. I couldn't stop smiling on every ride.

If I could ride those coaster every weekend I would. Line free of course. My teeth hurt from the wind rushing at them but I couldn't close my mouth. All ride photos showed screamer after screamer. People scared or nervous or just yelling for the hell of it.

Not me. All of my photos had the look of pure joy and the smile. It was as if I was on a photo shoot and I was supposed to keep that smile going to whole time.

Which is ironic since growing up I was the frowner. Had my mom known then that all she had to do was introduce a little high thrills to me to get me to smile things might have been a little lighter.


We thought it was all over and slowly headed for the exit. We didn't want this magical day to end. But then, as we neared the gates, we saw our final ride. It had lights. It had music. It had magic. It met all of our requirements. The carousel was perfect to end the night on.

Besides, it's the only time I'm going to get Mike on a horse so I couldn't pass up this opportunity. We chose our stallions and hopped on. The music began and we took our final ride.







For an alternate story and for different pictures go to my other blog at:
http://redismynaturalcolor.com/