Monday, August 4th - First Full Day of Vacation

Today I decided would be a good day to go downtown and wander around (it is something that I do in most cities that I visit---so I figured, even since I lived here most of my life, I would still go check it out).

Here are some of the pictures that I took (because you know if I have a camera, I am going to go nuts with it!):



It was not the downtown that I remembered from earlier years. The wing of the hospital that I was born in has long been gone (the old St. Joseph’s Hospital building), but it seemed that this trip left little that was familiar.

Take Main Street, for example. Much of what I remember about this area of downtown is different now. Instead of countless displays of propaganda, panhandling, and general homelessness and dirt, I encountered a newly installed train rail system. Several of the stops had fancy water features that would spurt and squirt and varying times. Around these train stop installations were a variety of plants and landscaping installations that dramatically changed the look of the area.

Gone were many of the businesses of old…replaced by restaurants, bistros, clubs and high-rises. Construction abounds in the downtown and midtown area. Many of the shacks that used to exist on the fringes of where these two areas collide have been demolished and building of multi-story condominiums has taken over.

As different as it appeared in many places, there was still some residual familiarity. The Federal Building was still where I remember it. The theater district, although different, had familiar components.

I say all this because this experience gives way to the question of what’s changed more—the city I used to call home or the individual that used to live here? While I am still processing much of what I experienced here (and I am sure I will write more about it later!), I am only sure of one thing…Houston is no longer home. That may seem like an odd realization since I have been gone for over 3 years now, but perhaps this is the first time that it has really sank in…or perhaps something has changed in me that questions whether or not I would want to come back (if given the opportunity).

Where do you call home? Have you ever returned to visit your “home town” and felt different about it than when you lived there (more disconnected, etc)?