becoming a city girl

i just realized that i am getting city-desensitized.

i realized this as i was riding my bike back from la fruteria - i was riding alongside a city bus, about 2 feet away. a *moving* city bus. with parked cars a foot to the right. this, from the girl who, one year ago, had not ridden a bike in a decade, and who, before moving here, rode a bike about once every two weeks, on basically country roads. now i'm biking downtown without thinking twice about it.

and i don't notice sirens most of the time.

and i used to freak out in crowds, but i went to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at a free outdoor showing in Millennium Park on Tuesday, and i sat there with at least 500 other people and felt perfectly comfortable. and then felt happy walking down the street in that mass of people as we all rushed for the El afterwards.

And i feel comfortable going into a bar alone - although I'm talking about Nevin's here, and Nevin's on session nights, so it's not really just going to a bar alone.

i guess this is good. i almost screamed today when i was on the prairie, though, because i was so sick of everything being flat and never having to lift my knees and feel the burn in my quads.
i think anyplace can feel like home, if you just accept it.