Dig Deep

It's been a while. I'm lazy. That's a lie. We've been cranking away at work and I've kept busy on the side so it's been non-stop which has its perks but is mostly bad for my brain. Makes it mush. But like any storm, it has moved on and calmer seas prevail which allows me to devote a little free time to such exploits as... oh... making fun of old photos.

Brad and Leah – Breah – came over for an impromptu pot o' chili some weeks ago and Leah had come across some pics of days gone by and wanted to share. The pictures are nice to look at just as they are if simply to illustrate how we've changed over the years. But to me, they tell a thousand stories.

For instance, the flag that Brad is holding and how it came into our possession revolves around picking up a friend in Cleveland, forgetting to shut the door of the UHaul trailer we were towing until a frenzied group in an SUV honked at us until we pulled over and realized our mistake. While pulled over, I found that very flag on the side of the road and stuck it in the latch of the trailer bound for Boston. It was just a couple of weeks after 9/11 and we got more than a couple of honks and "thumbs-ups" from fellow travelers on I-90.

And those outfits? It was Halloween, of course, so we had made a trip to the thrift store that morning and picked up whatever we could find. I have no idea what Brad and Elliott (blue coat) are supposed to be... other than themselves, but I do know I was Dean Witter and we all got really drunk at Elliott's co-worker's apartment in Back Bay. I also know that I wanted to fight Brad over boneless spare ribs from Nan Ling. Yes, I was that drunk and yes, they were that good.

That couch in the very same picture. It's got a pullout mattress in it. We found it on the way back from the grocery store. Hauled it several blocks and up three flights of stairs. My back has never been the same. And what were we honestly doing drinking Red Dog beer? Do they even make that stuff anymore.

The top photo was from our first rented house in Cincinnati on Stratford Avenue. That's Bradley and Nate Williams. I'm not really even sure why this picture was taken, but I grew up with that couch they're sitting on. It belonged to my grandparents, then to my aunt, then to me. It was terribly uncomfortable but was a journeyman and served us well. Everyone else still makes fun of it and its wire frame that jabbed you if you sat on it wrong, but I see that picture and then, inevitably, see so much more.

Oh, those stories could go on and on and in some ways, they still do.