My Little Town

Now playing: "My Little Town" - Simon & Garfunkel

According to Michelle Bachmann, I overshot Massachusetts and live in New Hampshire.

Hmmm. Based on this, not only am I not required to have health insurance, I don't need to use my car seat belt.

I keed.

I live in Acton Massachusetts; well, technically North Acton, almost where Acton, Concord and Carlisle all meet.

Acton is maybe 15 miles from Boston, although considering Boston now owns the 8th worst commute in the country, that can be more like an hour on some days. I'm perhaps 20 minutes from the MA/NH border, so maybe Michelle was just confused. Or not. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. But enough about her.

About my little town.

There's perhaps 20,000 people in this town and there are no shortage of large homes with expansive lawns, so it technically qualifies as a suburb and part of the Metro Boston metropolitan statistical area. It doesn't take much driving North and West before you run into barns, a ski resort and a winery, so it's also fairly close to rural/suburban. I realized I was officially a suburbanite last year when I discovered there was no chinese delivery. Happiness, that has changed with the arrival of Harmony Cafe that just opened at the junction of Rtes 111 and 27. I highly recommend the crab rangoons but the beef teriyaki was just meh.

Outside of college in idyllic Mt. Vernon Iowa , I've spent all my life living in an urban setting; I lived downtown when I was in Minneapolis. It took some time to adjust to the fact that I can't simply run out at midnight and get a light bulb without spending at least 15 minutes in my car. There's also only one fast-food place in town, and it's a McDonald's that doesn't have a drive-thru. That's actually a good thing. One not good thing is that there are rarely sidewalks. No, people don't really walk here, as evidenced by the number of three-car garages I pass on my way home.

The biggest indicator that I'm now a suburbanite? Everyone's all friendly and shiz. At the grocery store, the CVS, the post office, even random neighbors at the Pier One Imports in town....they ALL say hi and *gasp* make eye contact! I spent years avoiding eye contact with random strangers - see, this is a sign of aggression - in the big city.

It's taken some time, but I can't say I don't like the relative quiet of suburban life and it hasn't been too difficult to transition. Plus, unlike many other suburban areas, it's still an area that overwhelmingly votes Democrat. It is still Massachusetts, after all.

Right, Michelle?