New Haven Revisited

For the first 30 years of my life, New Haven was the center of the universe - the "big city" just seven miles from where I grew up in North Branford. Even though it's only 45 miles away now, it has been about as relevant to me as Fairbanks, Alaska. Today, I actually had reason to make a trip to City Hall on the Green in the Elm City because I needed to quickly get a copy of my birth certificate. Two things left an impression on me. One was the newly widened I-95 from Branford to the longtime traffic nightmare known as the Q-Bridge. It really made the trip in a lot smoother than I recall. Now if they can only widen 95 from there to New London. The other thing that surprised me was the huge vacant lot that used to be a retail center as Macy's and Malley's downtown. The Chapel Square Mall seemed like a shadow of its former self, but the Green and Yale are still impressive. It didn't just seem like half a lifetime ago - it was! On the other hand, it reminded me how much Eastern Connecticut has become home.