Hometowns

Hang on,
Hang on,
There's a twilight,
A nighttime,
and a dawn.

-Guster "Hang On"

Anyhow, I was thinking about Pennsylvania. How much I love this place. Hate it, sometimes, yes...merely for the fact that I've been here all my life (all 24 years). But I love it for its beauty, and I wonder if I will ever be able to leave, should an opportunity or need to do so arise.

Jackson & I were at the bookstore the other day, and stumbled upon this book. I want it...badly.

This is where I grew up, where I spend the first 18 years of my life. My family went to the Kinzua Dam, Jake's Rocks, Rimrock, and Chapman Dam when I was growing up. That kind of beauty...it gets stuck in your bones. You crave it when it's not around. It's like an addiction. And then, when it is around, you tend to take it for granted.

The part of PA I live in now...I don't want to offend anyone, but it's not nearly as beautiful as the ANF area. It's got some nice spots, yes. But they're tough to find, and they're frequently marred by rundown old factories, a vista filled with chain stores, strip mines, etc. This...this is beauty.

Granted, if you're approaching from the south, the first thing you see as you enter Warren is the lovely refinery. It's not all beauty, all the time. But it's a lot of beauty, a lot of the time.

Do I love the beauty for its own sake, or because it's my hometown?

Do other people feel that constant pull for their hometown, no matter where they are or how long they've been gone? Or am I crazy?

-Kristin B.

P.S. Heading off to my in-laws' for the weekend, aka the land of dialup. They make up for that by being great in-laws...and having a pool. Be back Sunday. Have a great weekend!