A sign of things to come?

Gotta get out a couple highlights from this past weekend, Labor Day 2007. As I drove around New England throughout the long weekend, I was constantly reminded of how much change is taking place in my friends lives, as well as my own.

Busting out of work early on Friday to drive to Boston and celebrate the recent engagement of two great friends, Jeff Berg and Amanda Golden, I linked up with Sara Roitman and finally made our way to dinner-very late. Amanda's mother, Pam, had cooked an incredible meal complete with homemade apple sauce. Bringin the bubbly, we toasted several times over dinner to the happy couple and their future lives together. Sitting next to Sara, sharing my own plans with the table, and listening to recent adventures by Tim McGivern and Syrah Merkow, it only helped to drive home the changes taking place all around me.

Syrah is about to land a perfect job with Harvard (fingers crossed). Sara is entering her second week of Law School at BC. Jeff and Amanda, after 7 years of dating, have taken that next step and are making wedding plans! Amanda's friend, Joelle, is headed to Buenos Aires for a few months to learn the language and find some work. Amanda's mother and father have recently moved and are starting a new stage in their own lives. After dinner we ended up running into a few other friends who are starting new programs in graduate work, just completed the bar exam, or are making plans to hit the road.

Saturday saw me grab a quick lunch with Damien and Sara, then driving up to NH to load the Subie up with boxes to store over the next couple years, and driving to the lake house on Tripp to spend the evening with the family and friends. Great dinner at the Tinkhams, good wine, a fire at the Harkins, and more reminders of major change. Not only did Evan start college last week, but he also broke his wrist and has surely started stalking some of the women on campus. Vickie and Bruce Hill just bought a house on the lake, joining the Mt. Washington Valley constituency that is slowly buying up all the property on the lake! To top it all off, Clay Bucholz - the Red Sox newest pitching prospect, threw a no hitter in only his second career start!

Sunday morning I got some much needed sleep, got up to go tubing with Luke and Chase, grabbed some breakfast at Noon, and unloaded the car after two close games of cribbage on the boat with Mom. Jumped in the car and made my way over to Biddeford Pool, for another exciting night with friends. Having severely burned myself in a bad accident this summer involving a bonfire, its been nice to visit lately and fly a little farther under the radar. Its a small town, and being "the burn guy" ain't so cool. Michael McCallister, a partner in crime and all things wacky, was busy preparing for a major change in his life: law school. Along those lines, I over heard more discussion between Adrian and Taylor about the formation and ideas behind their own dream of starting a software programming company as partners; the genesis of both their talents and passions. In addition, Taylor and Becca recently moved in with one another and are putting the finishing touches on that move. Sunday night was filled with a great meal, lots of Dark and Stormies, a little playing of the guitar with Tim and Luke, a few rousing games of spoons and quarters, and a solid nights (early morning's) sleep on the floor.

Monday was a fantastic day. Woke up to a great breakfast being made, plans to hit the beach, and the excitement to finally see a Sox game this year. After a solid morning of sobering up, pickin the guitar a bit more, and picking up the house, we trudged off to Fortune Rocks for a couple hours on the beach before the end of Labor Day weekend. Tim, Luke, Jeff, and I dug a couple holes in the sand, found some rocks, and started a new beach game resembling horseshoes. It was a blast and after a couple more dips in the ocean, everyone loaded up their cars and began the four hour (normally two) march out of ME and into Boston.

I ended up parking off Beacon St. and made my way over to the only decent bar in the neighborhood (unless you want to drop $7 on a beer and deal with popped collars) - Crossroads. Grabbed a paper, ordered a beer, and waited for word from Rob on when he expected to roll into town. The beer went down slowly after several days of drinking, but I eventually took off, talked with Garett for a bit on the walk up to Kenmore, and made my into the throngs of fans streaming over the I-90 bridge and onto Landsdowne St. No matter how many times you visit Fenway Park, the whole scene takes your breath away. The whole experience is rich in baseball tradition. I ended up grabbing a beer at Game On (not a favorite), walked out to grab some $8 sausage, and pulled up next to a guy listening to his hand held AM radio which was running through the pregame show and notes from around the league. I leaned over and asked, "Yanks lose the day game?" He answered, "Sure did, we're up 6 1/2 going into tonight". Sweet.

Rob showed up in the top of the 2nd inning and we made our way up to the Budweiser Roof Deck in right field. Having never been up there, it was great to get a new view on Fenway. Of course, the green grass, Monster, and classic back drop behind home plate gave me goose-bumps. LONG game after Dice-K started pretty hot and imploded in the 5th giving up 7 runs. Got to catch up with Dave Bolduc a little, whom I hadn't seen in years and even got to see Ethan and his girlfriend Amanda, whom stopped up for a beer in between innings. After four hours, a great night from another young buck-Jacoby Ellsbury, we walked out and made our way to the cars. Getting in at 2am didn't help get back to work on Tuesday, but any kind of work these days is petty hard when I'm consumed with thoughts and plans for the next couple years.

Getting to the game with Rob furthered two themes from the weekend; friendship (and all the relaxed fun it brings) and change. Seems Rob needs a change in the pace of his life after a few years down in CT working in insurance. Not sure its the healthiest lifestyle for him and also know that he wants to be closer to family and friends. I'm all for him changing it up and hope he takes that leap...it'd be a hypocrite if I didn't condone that.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about all the changes taking place throughout my life and the lives of those I care about. Is it too much of a cliche to say that change is constant? It makes me proud, excited, and anxious to see these friends of mine take another big step in their lives. More then anything, I want these people (and myself) to be happy, and from all accounts, these changes are all being made with that in mind. Of course, there are even more cliches to sum all that up, but more and more I think friends and family are aware that our time is precious and we have many choices in life as to how we spend it.

I'm sure this is much more to come from these feelings, but this weekend was a shining example of the excitement which comes from taking that next step down the trail...