Nova Scotia has perfectly good cellular service and the home in which I'm staying has a landline. But my cell has been turned off since I got here two weeks ago and only a few people have a contact number for me, in case of an emergency. I imagined I'd get some peace and quiet and not rack up too much of a bill. The added benefit of a text-detox is not lost on me. My mom's already called, and no one was dying. I think she probably just wanted to hear if I sounded under duress. Not unreasonable, as I came here to visit and stay with a virtual stranger. When she found out the rates for dialing Canada, however, she decided it was best to stick with chatting online. Which I'd figured would be a fine way of keeping in touch, seeing as I'm (is usually the right word here?) working on my laptop several hours each day. And I have chatted or exchanged emails with most of the people I would talk to on a frequent basis.
Not. The. Same.
Let's start with C, the best friend. His job doesn't allow for online IMing all day, as so many of my other friends' do. He's computerless, for the most part, but even so would suck at a written correspondence. It took him until this week to even read my blog, damnit! When I went away, I was afraid of this. We were used to seeing each other nearly everyday, even before he housed me my last six weeks in NYC. And we still spoke on the phone nearly every night. I haven't had a friend like that since middle school. (Not shocking since I've regressed to the mentality of an average 12 year old girl. C never moved past it.) (That's what you get for not reading sooner!) Not hearing his voice for 2 weeks would be bad enough, but there's so much more. Twenty times a day, something happens about which I would normally text him. "Cyndi Lauper's gonna be on the next celeb apprentice!?!?" "My mom's stripper name would be 'Cinnamon!'" "I'm bored." "Just roasted brussel sprouts." "Whatcha doin'?" (We have quite the intellectual exchange; don't be jealous.) The thing is, all those moments will be gone by the time I get back to the states and turn my phone on again. Three weeks isn't a huge amount of time, but they contain a HUGE amount of tiny moments that just aren't worth recounting once we reconnect. They'll always be more, of course, but I miss his take on all this insipid stuff NOW.
Other people whose voices I miss:
R,C &W. Man, I would love to hear some laughter coming from your lips. Because you must admit, my hilariousness would surely elicit some.
LB. I realize I could probably just talk to myself and have the full experience of listening to your voice, but I can never get your tone just right.
My mommy.
I miss you too. Thanks for the shout out! It's fine for you to be traveling like this, but get back to the U.S., there's lots to see here. You can explore and detox and find yourself here just as easily. Plus, there's not nearly as many Canadians here...and you and I can talk from time to time, I will happily share my tone with you!
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