The Ragged End Of Nowhere: Roots

I spent a couple weeks after my grandmother's funeral bouncing around New England in what seemed like one long episode of "This Is Your Life". I visited a steady stream of family, friends and places, many of which I hadn't seen in years. After a few days with family I headed to Portland to visit with Ben & Paula. Ben & I went for a drive up thru Cumberland (where I grew up) and Freeport, where we did some walking along a nice point at low tide. It felt good to get back to the places that feel most like home to me, even though I haven't lived there since I was 12. Back in Portland, we had a nice dinner at what I call "Takahachi North", a small sushi spot that Ben & Paula have made their own. The next day Ben & I headed NW to VT to visit with Jimmy & Anna. Jimmy's house in Mud City is where Jim, Ben & I lived together for a while. It was great to be together in that place again. There was still a ton of snow up there so we did some hiking/snowshoeing and just sucked in lungfulls of air bereft of exhaust and urine.
After dropping Ben back in Portland I went and stayed at my dad's, who now lives in Newmarket, NH which is where I had my first apartment ever in college. I stayed there on & off (more on than off) for about a week or so, venturing out to visit various friends in the area and see a couple Red Sox games and an amazing Bruins playoff game (both things I haven't done since I was in high school). While at my dad's, I had to go through about 12 boxes of stuff that have been languishing in various attics & basements over the years. This was where the 'memory lane' theme of this whole trip culminated. I spent hours looking thru box after box of mementos from all phases of my life, from early childhood to high school, college, dead tour, phish tour, and a hundred other tours I've done since. It felt good to be so immersed in the past for a couple weeks. If nothing else it really hit home how much of your life you forget.

The house I grew up in...