“You can never go home again, Oatman… but I guess you can shop there.”
Yes, I love the movie Grosse Pointe Blank. I have since the first time I saw it. Of course, it is more on my mind, now, as I recently returned to the city of my youth for my [NUMBER REDACTED]th Class Reunion!
It was great to see friends, some of whom I had not talked to in … that many years. Of course, if you follow this randomly expanded blog, you know that I usually don’t talk about people, and certainly do not use their names. So, this is going to be more of a “walk through the town,” than a recounting of that trip as a whole.
(But, “Hi!” to all of you, just the same!)
I pushed through the drive (14hrs of actual drive time) at a pace that would allow me to get into town in the evening, at around sunset. You know how I love pics of colorful skies, but there was more to it than that.
There was this hill, you see, that was very special to me in my youth. Sledding. Riding bikes down (often at speeds well beyond what Mom would have approved of). Chasing fireflies.
I had one evening to get a sunset from it, the rest were sure to be busy, so it just had to happen.
I know. You can’t really tell it’s much of a hill from the panoramic image, can you?
Trust me.
Between the slope and the trees that used to line some of the ridges that ran down the sides, sledding without steering was NOT something you did. You went to fast and the trees liked to stop people.
One neighbor’s mom found out the hard way, when showing him “how to sled.” First time I had heard of a leg shortening on impact.
Not sure he ever tried to sled, himself.
But, I digress.
I have to say that the surrounding tress had certainly gotten quite a bit taller, so I did not have the commanding view of the horizon which I had expected. Still, as the sun slipped below the horizon, there were some excellent colors to be found, with a bit of repositioning.
Eventually, I found a gap that allowed for a bit wider of a view.
Great start to the trip, but what does one do after being on the road for most of a full day, snapping some great shots, then stopping by a pre-pre-reunion gathering at a tavern???
Right! One sets their alarm for 4am, to go back out and get sunrise pics from the same place!
(Okay…some of us do this. I’m not going to judge anyone that reads the above line and says “what the f… ” in response. Really.)
Pardon the long exposure…I had to do this to get the skies to show up, despite washing out the illuminated foreground. I kinda like the effect, really.
Some color did start seeping into the clouds, after a bit, of course.
Eventually, this gave way to some excellent highlighting on the underside of the cloud layer, as the sun slipped above the unseen horizon.
After that, a walk in a park near the old High School. It’s a spot where I spent a fair amount of time, in my youth, and where I had even helped to assemble a wooden play fort, one summer day, long ago. While walking through, I passed a sandy play area with benches around it, then turned around thinking I might get a good angle on some of the trees…but found I was being watched.
I must have passed within a dozen feet of that spot. Not sure if it was there and just watching me, or if it landed right after I moved on. Either way, it let me get a bit closer, before it calmly took flight and escaped my scrutiny.
It was great to see the old stomping grounds on this trip. Around additional gatherings and the actual reunion, I managed to get time in the old woods…
and even my first, favorite cemetary.
Of course, amazing to see great friends, some of whom I had not been in the same place with for [NUMBER REDACTED] years!
Also interesting to see who, at the actual reunion, remembered me, given that I was not really all that social, outside of my select group of friends…
In the early hours of the drive back, I had to pull off and grab a final pic. It was a heavily overcast dawn, but in the midst of that, for maybe 5 minutes, a gap appeared, as if to send me off on my return journey.
It was great to catch up with many of the people that had stayed in town, over the years, and also all those that made drives/flights to get there, or moved back as time passed.
I guess Martin Blank was wrong…or at least none of my old homes had been converted to convenience stores…when he made that comment in Grosse Pointe Blank. But it does also highlight the fact that what was once home might pull at you, from the great memories and familiar people and places, but home truly is where your heart is, so no matter how much I enjoyed this trip, the end of that return drive truly brought me home.
Tight lines…