The sub of a lifetime

We went to Chicago this weekend. We had a great fucking trip! But for the first time ever, it felt like we were just visiting and not "coming home" and that part made me sad because i consider Chicago my home. I guess too much time has passed and too many things have changed and my body has adapted to a warmer climate (60 degrees in Chicago is much colder than 60 degrees in TN). But the one thing that remains completely the same are the people. It never felt like any distance came between us. I can go six months to a year without seeing these people and it always feels like we're picking right back up where the conversation ended last time. Time and distance and life changes and we're still all the same loveable assholes we've been since we all first met. And i still end up leaving town with a swollen jaw from laughing my fucking face off (luckily my pregnancy kept SEDA from punching me, which usually adds to my soreness after a visit). And it wasnt hard to be the sober guy around the drunk-asses either. The warm murmur of voices and laughs and idiocy just pulls you in. Pretty much everyone is the same whether they are drunk or sober--they're just a lot louder and a pinch more repetitive when they're drunk.

On this trip our achievements were many, but most notably, i was able to obtain the unobtainable: a veggie sub from Fontanos. This euphoric blend of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, artichokes, hot giardinara and mustard emitted puddles of delicious oil that saturated the bread, its wrapping, and the table i was eating it upon. Bite after intoxicating bite it was just as delicious and perfect as i had been imagining in the years since i last had one. Oftentimes our wildly built-up fantasies and reminescences fall short when they become reality, but not this sub. It was the sub of a lifetime. And i wasnt merely eating the sub--i was experiencing the world through its divine eyes. There i was, hands covered in oil and peppers, surrounded by the gentle chatter of some of the people i love most in the world, hazily staring at the diety i was consuming. That sub became part of me and the fetus, but also i feel that we became part of that sub. I think the whole experience has greatly enriched my life and has made me a better person.