Occasionally, I get into a geek mood. This morning I was playing with “Google Earth.” Like everyone else does, I found my house. From 1,000 feet up, my house looks like the other thousands of houses in this area. I then started searching for places I’ve been. I located old workplaces, schools, fun spots and other people’s homes I have known in the past.

Recognizing those old places unleashed some detailed memories. Streets, buildings or just aerial photos of geographical areas I’ve pretty much have forgotten about came back.

I searched Paddy’s beach in Misquamicut and found an old beach home my friend once rented on the edge of an inland salt marsh about a half mile back from Paddy’s. Also Weekapaug, not too far away, was where I used to surf cast. Paddy’s…I spent many days and nights there in my 20’s.

In 1993, I visited the blast plain of Mt St Helen’s when I visited a college friend who had moved to Portland, OR. I could locate Spirit Lake with that Google thingy and that brought back memories of horizontal sleet in late July as I managed to climb the ridges. I could also follow the road via Google that brought you to its terminus, and where you had to hike/climb up blasted rubble for a while to get to that blast plain.

I found the building of my very first “real” job after college that was associated with my degree in Western Cranston. From the aerial photo, the woods have grown in quite a bit around that old place. That was where I had a silly love/hate affair with Heather.

Beaches, RI Country Club, Buck Hill Burrilville, Canon Beach Oregon, Warren RI (for God’s sake!) and about a hundred other places that had meaning for me are easily found.

It struck me that I had forgotten about the details of some of these memories. However, they flooded back when prompted. I guess our current lives forces us to somewhat forget the details of the past. Also, the pile of history I, and we, have all heaped up over the years struck me as well. “Did I really do all those things?" I guess I have.

It was nice trip down memory lane…and it reminded me of all the growing I had done, growth we all have done.


*****


In other news, this slop humidity is getting worse. How can I tell? The more humid it gets, the more my dog stinks. Dog hair oil wafts off his coat on these days.