Today I had to clean, pack and leave my lovely suite in this gracious castle in Hagerstown, Maryland. I had to say goodbye to the wonderful people I’d worked with for over a month. I had to stop the passel of giddy highschoolers who lived next door to me and give them a large amount of unsolicited life advice about responsibility and financial success. Then I waited only on Rodger, my snail friend, to finish breakfast (he’s become fond of omlettes) before we could make the drive across Maryland to Baltimore and catch our flight to Atlanta.
Resting my elbows on the balcony railing, I looked out over the rambling castle grounds. Everything was still blooming furiously and the woods around were sprinkled with green and flashes of purple. Overlooking all this beauty, I gave my weeks in Maryland some thought.
Things I loved in Hagerstown:
1. Spring. Spring bloomed spectacularly with none of my allergens involved.
2. Rooster Moon Coffeehouse. Because every community needs a quirky, independent coffeehouse.
3. Morning and evening workouts at the YMCA. Aerobics classes are the best, and combined with a clean pool, the Y made my ideal gym.
4. The time I spent learning. It’s not often these days I have mental space for reading or thinking, but in Hagerstown, I found I could read and think very effectively. And I took advantage of the opportunity.
5. The Historic Houses of Hagerstown. This city features some beautiful mansions. I almost wrecked every time I drove by. One does not simply not look.
And, to be balanced, things I will NOT miss in Hagerstown:
1. Crime. Although I was in an area well to the north of the city, crime still knocked on my castle door every day. My population-serving job living in a place with such a high population density of felons definitely required me to live up to being both dauntless and a princess.
2. People saying “excuse me.” In Atlanta, people move faster in closer proximity. In Hagerstown, if I stood within five feet of someone, they politely backed away and said, “excuse me.” For what, exactly? I’ll never know.
3. Traffic intersections where traffic from one direction has no stop sign but the other three do. Enough said.
I’ll take so many good memories with me from Hagerstown… Maybe the best was the day I sassed one of the castle’s cleaning ladies, so she came up behind me, pulled my hair down, then put it back up atrociously and taped my nose to my forehead while everyone else laughed.
But it’s time to put the past aside and look to the future, where a flight to Atlanta waits to take me to my dear Prince’s arms, lovely royal family, and maybe best of all, bed.
And that last prospect is something maybe even Rodger can get behind.
-The Dauntless Princess-