Upon seeing the sign for the city limits of Fountain, my mind filled with mixed emotions, both excitement for seeing friends that I hadn't seen in years, and dread for seeing my old places of employment and driving by my old apartment where I did/sold meth before I went to prison.
The good outweighed the bad and I arrived at Seth's place shortly after 8am. We talked for a while, and within an hour, my cheeks hurt from laughter. We decided to round up the dogs and head out to his family campground where we used to play yard games, and drink excessively. I had purchased a new Wiffle bat for the occasion because I wanted to play my favorite game there, Campground Baseball.
I got a pretty good shot here. The yellow ball appears to be hovering mid-air, but has been released by the pitcher and is on the way to home plate which is the chair. The batter is Seth's brother, and the pitcher is his son.
This is from the outfielders viewpoint. Originally, the game was played by only Seth and myself, and the dogs were the outfielders. The game would never have existed without a dog to get every hit/missed ball. Thank you Willie.
This is Audrey, Seth's kid. She's ten years old now, and has been my favorite kid in the world since she was just one. I wrote to her many times while I was away, and she wrote me back. I was so happy to see her smiling face yesterday. Love ya kiddo!
We played baseball, talked, and cooked over a cherry wood fire. Friends came and went, and the time flew by so quickly. I could have used 12 more hours. I decided to share a picture of these mini cheesecakes that Chelsey, Audrey's mother, made in honor of my visit. One was s'mores, and the other Reese's. They were fabulous, and I gained at least one pound yesterday just from them.
This little guy here, that's Dan-O. Dave and Allyssa are two very good friends of mine, and while I was in prison, they made a baby. I'm not sure how, but they said it was really fun. Daniel is one of the happiest kids I've ever seen with a constant mischievous grin on his face. He sat still long enough for this picture, and was moving around for the rest of the day. Go, go, go!
Yes I had a great day. I had no cravings for drugs or alcohol. Driving through Rochester on the way back was tough. I saw so many places I had done bad things. I drove by the junk yard where I woke up going 70mph backwards and somehow didn't injure myself. I could see so many of the hotels I stayed in along the highway where I sold meth and went crazy. Every exit I passed I could recall certain places or situations on or near those roads that made me so grateful that I am not bound by those chains anymore. I don't like Rochester. Rather, Rochester shouldn't like me. I don't think I ever made one rational decision in all of the years that I lived there. I'm glad they made a highway that goes right through it.
I'm looking forward to going back to Fountain. It still felt like home.
