Have you ever been in a somewhat unfamiliar place and turned a corner or came out of a clearing and realized you had been there before? It’s a strange feeling, especially when the last time you were there was when you were a little kid. I went for a run today, but I didn’t go to my usual route. I went to a park close to home, that I had been to once or twice to smoke pot during my senior year of high school.
I was kind of going through the motions following the pavement that led through the park, when I noticed a side trail. I knew the route was shorter than my usual so I decided to take the path through the woods. I was having trouble navigating my way over the the tree roots and gravel, because I kept getting distracted by the late afternoon light streaming through the rustling leaves.
When I came to the clearing in the woods there was this boat house by the reservoir, and the memory didn’t so much come creeping back as it came rushing up to meet me and stop me in my tracks. The last time I was here I couldn’t have been more than four or five years old.
I was with my Dad and one of his friends, and we came here to rent a row boat and just get out on the water for the day. I had on a life vest and was running on the docks, when I tripped and fell face first onto the weathered wood, and it tore my lip open. I did what most four or five year olds would do and I cried like one. That’s it, that’s the extent of the memory.
It was something I pretty much forgot about, but finding this spot twenty two years later, made the memory come back from the ether. It may not sound profound or amazing, but for the rest of the day I felt connected with that little person. A person I barely remember being, and certainly don’t feel any sort of connection in my daily life. It was kind of a nice reminder to try and look at the world in that way, and stop being the jaded guy every once in a while.
Needless to say I came back later to get the shot. It was gated off so I tried to take some shots from behind the gates, but I wasn’t happy with it. So I jumped the fence (a lot easier after 4 months of rock climbing).