Copacabana

Nostalgia

My sister-in-law took some great photos of my grandparent's house and winery in Maryland. I love this place -- they bought it the year I was born and I spent at least a week there every summer until I was about 16 or so. The front of the house faces the Potomac because it is just that old and yes, it is haunted. A little boy lives in the closet of the furnace room. Ask my nephew; he'll tell you.

This place taught me perspective -- both geographically and emotionally. Across the river, faded blue, is the coast of Virginia, something that amazed me as a child. I remember watching a tornado come across the water with my whole family. My dad basically dragged us out of the house to watch it. I remember pulling in crab pots and shucking oysters on the front screened-in porch with my grandfather, wearing a huge rubber glove on one hand and brandishing a little weapon in the other. I remember fishing in the bay and swimming in tennis shoes and playing "Who's afraid of Birdie Mason?" with my cousins (don't ask...). And I remember going to some of the best parties I've ever been to. My grandparents knew how to throw a crab feast by God. They're both gone now. My mom keeps saying she's an orphan now. But damn, in this place, I see them. And I hope they know how much their interests enriched my, and many others' lives. I know you're playing "fusky" in the sky grandpa. And grandma, I'll try not to slam the screen door.

Anyway, have a look at my childhood. I'm going to the beach.

posted by Lola @ 3:03 PM