While it certainly isn’t this green in the middle of February, this is the Maryland I know – the land of mouthwatering crabcakes, farm-fresh fertilizer-air, higher speed limits (as opposed to Pennsylvania at least), black-eyed susans and the Chesapeake Bay. I grew up here; my family has most of its roots here, and I have discovered that even though I love my new home in Pittsburgh - Maryland has only grown into my heart more over time. To sound as cliche as possible: I suppose you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. :]
Maryland helps me reminisce – about childhood adventures through backyard woods and neighboring horse pens, about playing video games and make-believe with my little brother and decorating live Christmas trees in our living room every December. I remember having to learn how to feed our two cows whenever Dad went out of town on business, learning how to drive my first car (a Chevy cavalier named Little Beeper), snuggling under blankets with Mom and playing in haybales stacked in our barn with my brother and our dog. I remember nuances about my simple hometown like the stars coming out at night and deer creeping across the cornfields. I remember leaving doors unlocked and helping Mom set the table, rescuing stray cats, writing small adventure novels in my head, watching cartoons with my brother and setting up the sprinkler during sticky-hot summers. I remember things like the sound of wind in the trees, the times our livestock escaped and my Dad had to chase them back to the barn in his truck, or shopping with Mom and watching her prepare Sunday pot roast and the best mashed potatoes on the planet.
I guess, once I get going, I remember a lot just by association with the state of my youth. My childhood was not as picaresque as it sounds – not by any stretch of the imagination. There were fights and tantrums, ice storms and stretches of loneliness, car-accidents, financial hardships and stress of work and school on every member of my small family… like anyone else’s. But when I get to take a roadtrip home to Maryland, I somehow don’t recall these memories first. Instead, I remember the juicy bits, the happy times like prime footage selected for a film award show. I remember and I smile and my heart glows inside with joy.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but I’m an optimist, so forgive me for gushing. I love my hometown and its simplicity. I love my family. I love the 4-hour drive from Pittsburgh to Westminster and the joy of winding down and away from the monotonous box of daily/weekly tasks. Vacation, however short, is oh-so-good for the soul!
For a few days more, I’m home [my other home, that is], and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
