Maritime Vacation

Growing up

I think I always knew

I’d be living somewhere else

far away from home

Like many before me

and many since

You move to Toronto or Boston

or Calgary or somewhere

to make a living

to make a life.

A thousand miles away I am

I love my wife

I love my daughters

and it’s a good life I live

here in central Maryland

Good friends,

worthwhile investments of time and life

Nice winters here

Beautiful springs and autumns.

But in the summer

I think of Shelburne

I remember Nova Scotia

The rugged coastline and salt air

and New Brunswick

Old friends, old ways

Nostalgia

but something more

Something like love.

Thirty-three years

I’ve been away

but every summer I return

to the Maritimes,

to Canada.

And heading north on summer highways

the song begins

and memories pour forth.

My wife and I share the driving

Share the drive

Audio books and conversations

Harrisburg, Port Jervis,

Danbury, Kennebunkport

Bangor, Calais

Twenty hours and we’re there.

Mom and Dad in Havelock

Country roads to review

Old landscapes to retrace

Old shores to visit, barefoot

Old paths to walk

Old friends to see

Old days to remember

I’m from here!

It’s good to be back

in the land that gave me birth

My heartland.