Yes, it's Groundhog Day. Also, 20 years ago today I boarded a plane and left Vermont to go stay with my dad in Virginia for 4 1/2 months--the last half of my sophomore year of high school. It was an upper middle class neighborhood and a very culturally diverse high school (meaning kids from all over the area went there, rich & poor, black & white). Basketball star David Robinson was a senior there at the time. Culturally, it was all Huey Lewis and We Are the World and aerobics and Reagan. My stepsister was in 8th grade and a real pain in the ass. That time made me realize how much I really loved Vermont and when I came home in the summer, I really broke out of my shell and met some of the people who would be my friends for the rest of my life. I'd like to name some of them now. In the 6 months following my return from Virginia, I met and started friendships with:
I remain friends with each of these fine people today though geography separates many of us from regular contact. Anyway, I'm thinking of you all on this Groundhog Day. My Groundhog thoughts are with each of you.
For the record, I was actually friends with Dave Neuer before I went to Virginia, but our friendship really took off upon my return. Greg is the only close Vermont friend I still have from pre-1985.
Don't get me started on how long I've known Flatiron Dante... since the freaking Mesozoic.