There's no place like home

I thought I’d outgrown susceptibility to “homesickness” by my 3rd year at summer camp. Nope. I haven’t. Twenty years later, my immune system hasn’t found a way to kick it.
Increasingly since I’ve moved to the otherworldly Southland I’ve found myself longing for pretty much all things New England. New England people. New England sports. New England lifestyle. Even New England snow. I miss shoveling snow. Seriously.
Don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of things to be excited about in this town, and I’m not in it alone (thank God). But there pretty much isn’t a day that goes by that, even if only for a minute, I’d rather be “home,” defined as a place, a group of people, or a time (really, when you think about it, isn’t this what LOST is all about? Existing in a sense of belonging?).
I’ve been reading a lot of the SportsGuy lately (another transplated New Englander “living” in L.A.) and, what with the somewhat historic Celtics series, he’s been back to Boston a bit. The other day he wrote this:

"Walking around Causeway before the game, the street was effectively covered in green -- just guys in their teens and 20s happily walking around in green T-shirts and jerseys, randomly chanting "Beat L.A!" and "Let's go Celtics!" The bars were teeming with locals, many of them distracted by a timely Red Sox-Rays brawl that put everyone in the right mind-set for seven games against Kobe and the Kobettes. At the intersection in front of Causeway and Canal, there was a 25-foot replica of the NBA's golden championship trophy, with about 25 crazed Celtics fans flanking it and starting various cheers. Six especially creative Boston fans were walking around dressed like members of the '86 team -- Bird, McHale, Parish, DJ, Walton and Ainge -- wearing especially tight jerseys and shorts and corresponding wigs for each player. You always hear the phrase "happy to be here" about teams, but this might have been the first "happy to be here" fan base."

Homesickness just kicked me in the stomach and called me names.