Bellingham

It is strange to explore, once again, the town you grew up in. So much remains the same, but appears to have changed because your lens has changed. Some things, you have to wonder if they've actually changed, or if you've forgotten how they've always been.

I work at a shoe boutique in downtown Bellingham, and one of the teachers who taught at my middle school came in with his wife. He looked the same, but older, and we talked briefly about my favorite teacher, Mrs. Wiseman, and he told me he sees her on occasion at the gym and that she's still in good health.

It's strange to see people, the store fronts, the things I loved that have disappeared, the new things I feel I could learn to love. I now belong in part to Seattle, in part to Moscow, Idaho. New places have made their home in me. But Bellingham is still mine.