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I’m traveling in my beloved New England this week! It’s unseasonably hot during the day.

It’s also a little too early for the leaf-peepers – that’s a good thing.

I arrived at Boston airport without incident (flying Delta this time!). I picked up my rental – a lemon-yellow PT Cruiser convertible – and headed straight to North Providence to my brother Roy’s house. The highways were a little scary, but my highway phobia problem is much less bothersome when I’m the one driving. There were no sudden expansions into too many lanes, and no spaghetti-like junctions. It also doesn’t hurt that everybody is going 65 or 70 (instead of 85 and 90 like they do in Atlanta). Whew.

Roy made a great chicken dinner, and my sister-in-law Patty’s parents came so that I could finally meet them. I hadn’t been able to attend Roy and Patty’s wedding because I was 8-1/2 months pregnant at the time, and the last time I was here, we all met at Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Ute’s house.

Roy and Patty are in a new house now. They have had to do a lot of remodeling because a pipe burst before they moved in. My nephew Dylan is still a little bit unsure about whether this is really “his” house yet.

Speaking of Dylan – awwwwwww. Just awwwwww. I’m having lots of fun playing with him. He is totally adorable. He is calling me “Auntie.”

My brother put up a big airbed for me – it’s a really strange sensation to sleep on it. The air is cold underneath, and I have a big quilt on top, and it somehow works out to be the perfect temperature. I have to distribute my weight a little carefully or I sink down in the middle. I’m sleeping kind of diagonally, but it’s really comfortable. It worked out the kink in my neck from the flight.

Yesterday Roy took the day off, and we went back to our hometown (Attleboro, Massachusetts) to see how things had changed or stayed the same. I was thrilled to see that they finally fixed the globe fountain at the front of Capron Park. Our old house had been redone and looked a lot better except that they had cut down all the trees and planted a bunch of frou-frou grasses and such out front. It didn’t exude that slightly ominous feeling anymore, though – that was reassuring to me.

One of my elementary schools and my middle school had been turned to other uses, but the high school looked pretty much the same, except for some clearly heightened security measures. Sigh.

Without speaking of it, we didn’t drive by the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

For lunch, we went to Willow Tree Chicken Farm. They make the best chicken salad in the entire world. We picked up a couple of sandwiches, and went to Slater Park to have a picnic.

We had the convertible’s top down and, as we drove into the park, Seals and Croft’s “Summer Breeze” was playing on the radio. Roy turned to me and said, “We’re in a movie, ‘Cruising with the N0rdb3rgz’” (excuse the slight warp there).

We laughed ourselves silly and were quite unreasonably happy and carefree.

We came back to the house and I prepared to go to Mary’s house in Cumberland, R.I. I haven’t seen her since at least 1982, and I was a little nervous.

How long have I known Mary? Here’s a clue:

Getting to her house wasn’t easy, either. She’s nestled in on a forested hill surrounded by farms – as I drove I saw signs for “Haunted Hill” and “haunted hayrides” and “homemade fudge.” The air smelled great. I got there a little bit early, and her husband was vacuuming. “Quit that vacuuming right now,” I shouted in, “I told you not to fuss.” Laughter greeted me.

Mary had quite a day. There was no air conditioning at work – that must have been a real drag (it’s really very hot outside) – but on the other hand, she had won $300 and a chance for Bon Jovi tickets on a radio station contest while she was driving into work.

She had a pork roast simmering in the crock pot all day, and made fresh apples with cinnamon to put on. Mmmmm.

She was just the same. Actually, she was different, too, like me, but her spirit, her “vibe,” was just the same.

It’s amazing to me sometimes that with some friends you can just pick up and have that same energy between you no matter how many years might have passed. With others, you want to run away screaming if you see them again – it’s like they’ve become strangers, and not ones you’d really want to get to know.

Mary made me feel welcome and completely at ease. We had a great, great time. I’ve got a photo of us, but I’ll have to post it later because I don’t have the camera connector with me. I met one of her sons – he’s 13, and very bubbly and funny like his mom. He showed me his two ferrets and sacrificed one of his blackberry grape drinks for me. I would have liked to have met their older son, too, but he was at work.

(More photos here)

We sat outside after dinner in their screened-in gazebo/tent thingie, and turned on some twink lights and talked about all kinds of things. Then we came in and had bakery-made strawberry shortcake for dessert (I think I might be gaining back that bit of weight that dropped off recently).

I drove back, and hung out with Patty until Roy got home from a work meeting. We had a little trouble getting Dylan to go to bed (that’s an understatement) but he went to bed right away once his Daddy got home. Maybe he was waiting for him.

So today I’m talked out and exhausted, but exhilarated too. I haven’t traveled alone since I was pregnant with Ben. I miss my family and my home, but… I really am having fun.

I have a cell phone now (my first one – I can’t think now why I was resisting it) and I’ve been talking with Ben and John every day. The very first day, Ben said, “I really wish that you wouldn’t have gone on this trip.” Nothing like a guilt-trip right away! (giggle). John’s swamped with all the responsibilities of teaching and writing and house stuff and Ben – but I think overall that’s probably a good thing. Moms, hear me.

He’s probably going to have to go to a department dinner later in the week, and we’re thinking of giving his ex a couple of chortles by asking her to babysit. Ben loves her.

This afternoon I’m going to Cranston to see another close girlfriend from my younger days. She changed her name to Kate but I keep forgetting and calling her Nicky or Nicolette (I love the name Nicolette). I don’t have much time to spare now, but we’re going to Borders for a cuppa and maybe I’ll pick up a book too. I haven’t read anything since I finished a novel on the plane. I’ve been using my iPod to get to sleep, but I am really used to reading for a while at bedtime, and I’m missing it.

Tomorrow I’m headed to Salem. I’m meeting Jan at the Witch Museum. She won’t step inside that “patriarchal propaganda tool for Judeo-Christianity” but I’ve never been to Salem in all these years, so I might get try to get there a little early and take a peek. I’m hoping that she’ll help me find a magic wand. I warned her that I want one that works – a teacher’s pointer with a rock on it, something like that (grinning).

I’ll be going to my cousin Aletta’s wedding on Sunday. It’s the reason for the season – I mean, for the trip. It’ll be a blast. She is going to ask the married women to whisper something in her ear, and I already know what I’m going to say. We’re all staying in Groton MA the night before the wedding.

There are a few other people I wanted to see on this trip, but I just don’t have time. Sigh.

I may not have another chance to blog this week, but I’ll be back Monday night. Hang in there everybody.

(Note: the photos were added on October 2)