I am on my way home. My new baseball hat doesn’t have a hole in the back for my hair and when it sits all the way down on my head it makes my ears stick out ever so slightly.

I bought this newest edition to my collection of hats in my favourite city. The City of Trees, Indianapolis. I’ve posted about this city before, but I’ve noticed three things on this trip.

1. Flying over the top of the city, it looks like the city was placed between the trees in a forest. It’s unbelievable how the houses and buildings really are covered by a canopy of trees.

2. The Monon trail. I have a love-hate relationship with this trail. The hate is that it means a rail road will likely never again connect Indianapolis with Chicago and you know how I like trains. The love is the trail goes for miles and connects the North to the South. It’s glorious, it is paved, it is policed and the bikers on the trail don’t insinuate that they own it. I can hardly believe my luck!

3. I realize why I love this city. You can live it. It is a big-small city and easy to navigate (you really need a car unfortunately but I did see people using the IndyGo and my heart swelled with joy!). It is a city with community.

There is also a fourth reason this city is pretty cool, it’s where family lives and one little guy in particular who made it impossible for me to keep a straight face, even when he was being knowingly mischievous. 🙂

This little guy LOVES to talk. He cocks his head to one side, tips his hands outward and away from his body and with a quizzical look on his face says,

“App ohh dad abb ack oh.”

The tricky part is the response. Even though it appears that the appropriate response would be over-dramatized humour – it isn’t. I tried and it was received with a river of tears and frustration that Auntie responded inappropriately to the question. By day 7, I am a slow learner, I learned the best respond was a nod of the head and a “I totally agree! Silly eh?!”.

He might have been born in America but he sure appreciates the Canadian “Eh!”. I am so proud of him.

The last evening him and I hung out together. We visited the famed City Circle. We had Qdoba, I am already going through Buritto withdrawal and it ain’t pretty. We sat and watched the horses with their buggie’s, the motorbikes sporting their *badass* riders (I am confused) and overall people watched.

The last part might be his best feature. He is such a great people watcher at just over 1 year old. I might not yet fully understand his full sentences but we can sit side by side on the cement steps of City Circle and get a kick out of the crowd that surrounds us.

I am almost home and just like when I leave my nieces and their chitter chatter, I am already missing the bird noises and my nephews conversations.