Kate Golding

What draws me north to my hometown each year? Is it nostalgia, a longing for the small town childhood I experienced? Is it the uncongested air and the slower pace of life? Is it the family and lifelong friends who stayed after I left? Or is it all of these things in varying proportions?

Sitting by the lake behind my dad’s house the water laps at the backyard. The sun and moon rise over the water. In winter, fog rolls in overnight and then clears in the morning sun. As kids we would swim and sail and water ski all summer long. As teenagers we would hide out by the water and smoke and reenact the lake scene from Dirty Dancing. Granny used to say the dust was in our veins. For me, I actually think it’s the muddy water.