Clarendon Hills
Forgive me for a moment if I wax irrationally nostalgic, but I couldn't possibly come this close to my old village after fourteen years and not spend an afternoon there.
This one is really for my family: a few shots of the last time I kicked around this town, and a few from yesterday.
Hayley (in pink on the left) and friends at my 10th birthday party. (I'm on the right)
Hayley and her folks, present day. (Jeez, Hayley, you sure are attached to that pink shirt.) These cats are insanely warm and generally kickass people. They founded a Shakespeare company shortly after I skipped town in '92, and it's still going strong at their outdoor stage in a forest preserve:
Rock on, Rice family.
We took a walk through the town, starting with a stroll past my old elementary school.
Then (L to R, my friend Ann, me, and my sister):
Now (NOT COOL, guys):
But they did put up a new one right next door. Now five times as many kids can learn about Jacques Cousteau and run really slow in gym class.
As a sidenote, Ann has grown up to be a fetching young lady. She's working on an MBA.
We all got caught in a downpour a couple of nights ago. Drowned rat style:
Back in the day (L to R: my sister, me, Hayley, and Ann, plus Ann's baby sister)
Back to the village, though...
Everything is the same!
I ran into the Browns, whose daughter was my sister's nearest and dearest in elementary school. I can't believe they remembered me from when I was ten.
Hayley's house
The tree I planted in third grade, when it was about six inches tall.
And after all these years, I was afraid my old house would have undergone some awful transformation since I lived there and it looked like this:
My house circa 1991But it was almost the same.
We leave little pieces of ourselves wherever we live, and it's a comfortable thrill to return every so often and fit that piece back into the Jenga tower of our psyche just for an afternoon.
posted by Leah @ 5:10 PM
3 Comments:
LBF, thanks so much for the glimpse of the moss covered past. It's interesting to see that the deck is still there. When we built it, we put the neighborhood in a panic. We were fresh off the merry pranksters' bus from NorCal and told everyone we were building a stage for our pals, the Grateful Dead, to do some jamming in CH.
Oh man - do I look highly questionable in all these pictures. I fear that says something about me.... hmmmmm.
Anywho - we WILL find dancing some time soon, and it will be sans skanky chicks.
OH, and yes I know how sad it is to post a comment on the blog of somebody who is currently in your house as you write this, but you're asleep, so there.
The bit with the Browns is great. Sure, they drink Starbucks now, but they still remember you. Doesn't that just give you the warm and fuzzies?
And the Metra picture is priceless. Who said that "you can never go home?"
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