Animal farm and memory lane

(by mark)

We've been in Seymour, Connecticut for the last few days, staying with my parents and visiting with the whole family. It was the first time in a while that we were all together and it was a very enjoyable visit.

Probably the most prominent feature of the visit has been the animals. We brought our dogs along, and my parents have a miniature poodle and a kitten. The kitten, Mini, is a cutie:

From Move2008

Betty, our hound, is in heaven here because there are no furniture restrictions and my mother feeds her pounds of left over turkey. Here she after a turkey feasts and before a nap on the couch:

From Move2008

George, our mystery mutt, is in heaven because he loves cats. He has yet to eat one but he is obsessed with cats whenever they are around. This is pretty much how he has spent his weekend:

From Move2008

From Move2008

From Move2008

I've been back to my hometown many times since moving away. But this visit has felt more poignant since we're on the verge of moving really far away. I will almost certainly visit Seymour and the area again, since my parents are not likely to move away any time soon. But it has felt significant this time around. The house is next to a wooded park:

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I spent many hours roaming around those woods as a kid--playing hide and seek, riding bikes, lighting things on fire...you know, good ol' fashioned boy games. We took several hikes in the woods and it was quite nice to revisit my old stomping grounds. And I was glad to see the old land marks out in that park appropriately designated by the locals:

From Move2008

We also ran some errands to neighboring Ansonia, where we lived until I was nine years old. Ansonia is kind of a sad working class town, with all the industry long gone. It's strikingly similar to our former neighborhood in Baltimore, actually. We drove by our old house in Ansonia, which I hadn't seen in years, and visited a few memorable spots from my frist nine years of life. I'm glad I don't live here anymore, but, nevertheless, there's something inviting about the area. It still feels like, well, home.

And we had lunch at Pepe's, the best pizza anywhere. Period. Legend has it that pizza was invented here, but a lot of old pizza places lay claim to that distinction. But there's no doubt that they serve fabulous pizza. It's worth a visit if you're ever in New Haven, but get there early or prepare to wait an hour for a table.

Tomorrow we leave Connecticut and head down to Virginia to spend turkey day with Cassie's family. Baltimore really feels like a distant memory now. And I need to finish planning the drive to CO.

Life's a voyage that's homeward bound.
-Herman Melville