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<p>I’ll never forget the moment I became a New Englander. It was October 28, 2004.&#0160; I know it was around lunchtime because I was buying a salad when I heard The Standells for the first time:

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<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I&#39;m gonna tell you a story</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I&#39;m gonna tell you about my town</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I&#39;m gonna tell you a big bad story, baby</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Aww, it&#39;s all about my town</span></span></p>

<p>It was, of course, the day after the Sox had won the World Series. I’m not a baseball fan (actually, I’m not a fan of any sport) but my husband and I couldn’t help but watch the game on the tiny TV in our guest room and cheer on the local team.&#0160; I may have shed a tear when the game ended and the neighbors on our sleepy Newton street went outside to celebrate, but at the time I thought it was the pregnancy hormones taking over.</p>

<p>We went outside too, and I took a blurry picture of the blood-red lunar eclipse.<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_MnhQ6V0IJN8/RspRIiAZbzI/AAAAAAAAAAM/FDucbOGwnQU/s1600-h/DSCN0797.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bd1970c " id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100978734959783730" src="http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bd1970c-pi.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" /></a></p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yeah, down by the river</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Down by the banks of the river Charles&#0160; </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Aw, that&#39;s what&#39;s happenin&#39; baby)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">That&#39;s where you&#39;ll find me</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Along with lovers, fuggers, and thieves </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Aw, but they&#39;re cool people)</span></span></p>

<p>My newfound affection had very little to do with curses being broken.&#0160; By then we had been living here a little over two years, but we had spent a lot of that time discussing where in the world we would end up living - <span style="font-style: italic;">for real</span>.&#0160; Vienna?&#0160; Miami?&#0160; London?&#0160; Rio?&#0160; What city would allow us to live the life we wanted?</p>

<p>Turns out we were already there.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Well I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, Boston, you&#39;re my home&#0160; </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Oh, you&#39;re the Number One place)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Frustrated women&#0160; </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I mean they&#39;re frustrated)</span></span></p>

<p>At first, I thought this town was boring and was frustrated because it wasn’t welcoming.&#0160; There&#39;s no street grid, so it takes years to learn your way around.&#0160; Driving a Honda Civic in 10 inches of snow is not fun.&#0160; I was a frustrated woman, indeed.</p>

<p>Until I got AWD and navigation, that is.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Have to be in by twelve o&#39;clock </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Oh, that&#39;s a shame)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">But I&#39;m wishin&#39; and a-hopin, oh</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">That just once those doors weren&#39;t locked</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I like to save time for my baby to walk around)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Well I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, Boston, you&#39;re my home (oh, yeah)</span></span></p>

<p>We had many hungry nights when we first moved here.&#0160; I was used to eating dinner after 9 pm, and I never, ever went to a restaurant before 10 pm.&#0160; Have you been in Boston after 10:30?&#0160; Ghost town!</p>

<p>Eventually, we adjusted our dining schedule.&#0160; Now I eat at 6 pm (sometimes 7!) like a real New Englander.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Because I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, oh, Boston</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">You&#39;re my home (oh, yeah)</span></span></p>

<p>But you know, this town has a way of growing on you.&#0160; We love going for walks on the Charles River Esplanade (always keeping an eye out for thieves).&#0160; I love cannolli, and therefore the North End.&#0160; I’ve been on a duck tour, and it was corny and all sorts of awesome.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Well, I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I love it, baby)</span></span></p>

<p>Canoeing to the playground in Auburndale park.&#0160; The Barking Crab.&#0160; Fenway Park.&#0160; Nantucket.&#0160; Tanglewood.&#0160; MassMoCa.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I love Baw-stun)</span></span></p>

<p>I don’t have a Boston accent, but my son says “cah” and “beah” instead of “car” and “bear.”</p>

<p>Adorable.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Have you heard about the Strangler)</span></span></p>

<p>I love the history and the scenery that has inspired countless artists: Walden Pond, Emily Dickinson, The House of the Seven Gables, Norman Rockwell.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I&#39;m the man, I&#39;m the man)</span></span></p>

<p>I will never love the snow, but it makes me appreciate our gorgeous summers even more.</p>

<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Owww)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I love that dirty water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Come on, come on)</span></span></p>

<p>I even love our simple black and beige colonial with its red door.&#0160; It&#39;s just a rectangular box with a gable roof, the kind of house a child would draw.&#0160; It screams New England.&#0160; It&#39;s home.</p>

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