Spent a lot of time the past week wandering downtown Birmingham exploring the alley's and empty buildings. It reminds me of the emptiness of Milwaukee in a way. It's hard to not daydream about better use of space, envisioning what would fit well in all the different storefronts and stacks of old office spaces. If only it was up to us.
Rang the new year in with dancing at the Quest with every type of human possible. The best way. Then somehow managed to rise up early enough for a day hike in the Sipsey wilderness. Really couldn't of asked for much better way to start a year off. Laughs that left us lighter in the sun.
I'm now back in my stomping grounds of the Pacific Northwest where I'm visiting my folks. Although I haven't been living here for over 15 years somehow it will always be home. It's wild how the landscape quickly changes and spots disappear, even here in the burbs. On my walk to get coffee this morning I noticed new streets that didn't exist before and the octagonal shaped Sharri's where we spent late nights drinking coffee in high school is now a ugly condo. I wandered under the train trestle where Becky Nelson and I found a pipe in 8th grade and after much debate we ended up leaving it there, both afraid to bring it home.
This adult perspective still catches me off guard sometimes. I was thinking this morning about how when we would be driving through Orange County when I was a kid and my mom would go on about how "this all used to be orange groves" and I'd probably roll my eyes or say something snotty like "I know mom, you told me that before." It's burned in my brain her talking about the orange groves, she lived down a dirt road in them once if I remember correctly. But now it makes sense to me. Growing up is fucking weird.
See you soon Alabama.
