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

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

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.  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.

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

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

My newfound affection had very little to do with curses being broken.  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>.  Vienna?  Miami?  London?  Rio?  What city would allow us to live the life we wanted?

Turns out we were already there.

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

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

Until I got AWD and navigation, that is.

<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Have to be in by twelve o'clock </span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Oh, that's a shame)</span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">But I'm wishin' and a-hopin, oh</span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">That just once those doors weren't locked</span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(I like to save time for my baby to walk around)</span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Well I love that dirty water</span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, yeah)</span></span>

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

Eventually, we adjusted our dining schedule.  Now I eat at 6 pm (sometimes 7!) like a real New Englander.

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

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

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

Canoeing to the playground in Auburndale park.  The Barking Crab.  Fenway Park.  Nantucket.  Tanglewood.  MassMoCa.

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

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

Adorable.

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

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

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

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

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

I even love our simple black and beige colonial with its red door.  It's just a rectangular box with a gable roof, the kind of house a child would draw.  It screams New England.  It's home.