townies

nostalgia was the name of the game today.

i went to chico for a bbq to celebrate ms. sarah's birthday. sarah recently bought a sweet home in one of chico's numerous older neighborhoods. the people who owned the home prior had been there for 50+ years...it is fair to say they had a special place in their hearts for wallpaper. additionally, the family who once lived there also enjoyed a swimming pool and a pool table. both were left behind with the sale of the home. one sits proudly in the great room and the other has become a beautiful, terraced courtyard. i sat down in the courtyard this afternoon - enjoying the sun and sarah's two puppies, jack and jill.

later on in the day more family arrives. johnny abandons a game of pool to tend to the bbq so his daughter, caitlyn's boyfriend (another johnny) steps in for him. turns out johnny is going to college in redding but he went to high school in the same town where i did in massachusetts...a very small town. easton...home of stonehill college, a lot of really old stone buildings...notably - the library, a fantastic children's museum and the o.a. tigers. we talk about easton for a while - he asks when i went to school there. happens to be the same year that he was born. gasp! okay - - the year is 1989. johnny asks me what easton was like then. i tell him what i remember...and then i recall the boy who was always sitting in the center of town either in front of one of the ames buildings, or near the gas station and always late at night. i wondered about that boy then, but it has been years since i've thought about him. i snap back to the game of pool and immediately sink the 8 ball out of turn. johnny pretends it doesn't happen...

i head back outside and walk down to the courtyard where lillee, sarah's daughter is reading her new book from uncle johnny. the book is 'all about your new puppy' or something similarly titled...lillee is reading from the page with the headline "why does my puppy mount visitors?".

jack and jill look on.