Come Thursday, I will be going back to my hometown of Tucson, AZ for a few days of sun, relaxation, some NCAA games, and to experience some easy traffic with family and friends.

Hey maybe even a Spring Training game may be in the cards. Not sure why I would want to travel 2,000 miles just to see the M’s practice when I only see about 10 games a year at the stadium I am 3 miles away from, but whatever.

It is a funny thing about hometowns; you can’t wait to leave them but can’t wait to come back when gone for a bit. Looking forward to this trip makes it all the easier when:

a) the weather in new home has been between 35-45 for 4 months

b) there is no football/baseball season going on

c) you don’t have to work

I think part c is the best one.

Anyway, hometowns are like families; you get to criticize, tease, and belittle them ad nauseam but no one outside the ‘family’ gets to do that. Tucson is not a great city. It is sparse. It is hot. It has no job growth. It has no national presence. There is no social scene. Everyone single there is either a way-too- young annoying college student or a burnt out divorcee with a few kids. It is cheap there, but you get what you pay for. It is dusty and dirty. It is hot. Very very hot. Really the only thing going for Tucson is that it is not Phoenix.

Regardless, it was my home for 37 years and I can say that.

You can’t.

But I am looking forward to my return to the Old Pueblo.