... nunaka valley, anchorage, alaska, circa 1960 ... while anchorage usually experiences winters milder than is commonly believed, this particular year was a season of deep snow and extremely cold temperatures ... no matter, ma bundled us up as if she could foresee neil armstrong's outfit for his little stroll across the surface of the moon, and then sent us out to play and play and play and play until the early darkness of the winter night descended and the howling of the critters in nearby woods sent us scurrying for the back door ... in the window, the little flash of cyan, that's her, doing a crossword puzzle as she periodically looked out the window to make sure we were still moving and none of our exposed parts were frozen solid ...
... this afternoon, my boyhood home ... for a precious moment i saw ma in the window ... i hope she was still enjoying a good crossword puzzle, and that every now and then she was taking a moment to check on me ...
... ella winter inspired thomas wolfe when she told him, "don't you know you can't go home again," but, despite the truth of her advice, i don't think it means there's nothing to be gained in making the attempt ... today, while i know i didn't make it back to our little home on kepner street, with the help of liz and adrien i did get just a tiny bit closer, and in this i found great comfort ...