Yes, I said six in the AM. On Saturday. I'm in this weird sleep phase lately where I wake up at this time pretty much every day. BOING! Up. Awake. Of course, I'm conking out on the sofa most nights by 10 PM as a result - I've been trying to watch the last episode on my Season 1 Metalocalypse DVD's for several nights running now. Finally got through it last night before falling asleep, which makes it sound like watching it was a chore, but it wasn't at all. Dethklok RULES. Too bad the "tour" isn't coming here. Are you telling me UW doesn't have Dethklok fans? BRUTAL.

I've been back for a week now from my October vacation. It was kind of strange overall - starting with the fact that the weather on the East Coast was freaking 90 degrees for the first few days. Weather like that is NOT why I like to go on vacation in October. Ironically, I left behind weather in Seattle (50's, cloudy, windy, chilly) that I was HOPING to find in the East. Yes, Alanis, I really do think.

Still, I was in good company, in a place that I cherish more than most, Capon Springs. My sister was with us for the first few days before she had to rent a car and drive up to Massachusetts for a wedding, and we were able to get some of our traditional activities in - one of these is the "Hike To Eagle Rock (abridged edition)." It's a good hike, especially if you start at the base of the trail where the lodging is. We didn't do that this time, instead driving up to the 3/4 point which happens to be on the county/state line. It was one of the really hot days, you see - and we were also worried about making it back in time for the next meal - you don't want to miss a meal at Capon.

I've often wondered why I enjoy being there so much; I've been countless times through my life, so it's not like I usually get anything new out of the experience. On the sweaty walk up the last bit of the Eagle Rock trail, my sister summed it up completely for me: "This place is the only one left that feels like HOME to me."

And that's it exactly. Our childhood home is out of our lives for good when the sale on it closes on October 31, but I don't think I've thought of it as "home" for a long time. "Home" in this context is that place that you find yourself wanting to return to, to reconnect with your roots, to spend time catching up with family, to hear the old stories, the same old jokes. When I moved to Seattle in 1993, I was as far from anything resembling "family" as could be - both sides are entrenched on the east coast, even though my paternal grandfather was born in Kelso, Washington. When you're young and full of it, you want to get out there and do your thing, just to prove you can. At the time, I think being as far away from everything I'd known was one of the things that attracted me to Seattle.

As I've gotten older, I've found myself missing this idea of "home", even as I've come to absolutely love everything about living in the west. I'm not quite as isolated now - I have family in Los Angeles, and looks like that's where my mom is going to end up once she gets the house sold and gets her bearings. She's placing herself to be in proximity of grandchildren, you see - which my sis and bro-in-law occasionally talk about having.

The place I used to think of as home was my Nana's house in Hudson, New Hampshire. A great big 'ol New England house on a big piece of land, it was the site of countless family gatherings since my grandparents moved there in 1973. Growing up, it was an almost magical place for me, a place where I could leave behind all of my worries. It seemed that the house was always full of happy people, laughing and carrying on. When Nana passed away in 2002, we as a family lost our anchor for a while. And now only my aunt lives in that house, which is way too big for just one person to live in. I love my aunt, but it makes me sad to go there now. It isn't "home" anymore.

Now, of course, there are new anchors appearing in our family, as I guess must happen to all of us eventually. We have a biannual tradition going now at Capon Springs with my Dad's side, where we all congregate in October. This year was an "off-year" visit for me, with a smaller (and all grown-up!) group from my Mom's side of the family, making this year's visit a lot more low-key than is typical for me there lately. My Berube cousins have been reproducing like crazy over the last decade, so there's a younger generation when we have the big get-togethers; and I have to admit I really look forward now to spending time with those young whipper-snappers. For one thing, I finally get to pull rank the way my older relatives did with me, and there's rare satisfaction in that.

Capon is in many ways 100% corny - it's like a place frozen in time, the 1950's, to be precise. My bro-in-law Kevin describes it as "the Dirty Dancing town without any of the dirty dancing."

But when we're all there, making a ruckus - it feels like home. I can't wait to go back next year.

OH! I saw Gone Baby Gone last night and it was really great. Man, there are a ton of good movies I gotta see in theaters right now.

Saturday I jet east for a week off, and the weather where I'm going has been in the low 80's during the day, which is just UNACCEPTABLE. It is AUTUMN, people. Please hold while I take this opportunity to throw a tantrum.

(beat)

OK, I'm back. Vacation is still vacation and I'm going to have fun. And massages. And naps. And hikes. And at least one Fuddburger. I'm taking the laptop, but I don't know what kind of connectivity I'll have with it. That's OK, mostly I'm taking it to make some progress on some writing I want to get finished.

The Red Sox are in the playoffs again this year. I was really hoping the Mariners wouldn't do exactly what they did, and that is completely tank in the last month of the season, allowing the Yankees to win the wild card. But at least I don't have any trouble rooting for the Red Sox against any of the remaining teams. Not that I wouldn't have rooted for the Sox in a series against the Mariners, just that it wouldn't have been as fun. I like my hometown team.

But the blood of Red Sox Nation runs in these veins.

Hmm, what else - we're at the tail end of the initial blast of Life Like Luster orders. Those who were waiting for it have bought it, by and large, so now the long slog of remedy-ing the awarelessness of the uninitiated masses really begins. How this happens, I have no idea. Well, I have some ideas. We have two shows at the end of October, I'd love to see you at either or both of them.

It appears my mother has found a buyer for the house in Woodbridge that I lived in for 17 years starting at age 6 - it was the only "home" my sister ever knew. And this weekend probably marks my last time to set foot in it. It's a good thing, in the end. Even though I haven't lived there for 14 years now, it's a large part of my history and it's always strange when milestones like this go by the wayside. My Mom then will head to Georgia for the balance of the year, then most likely to someplace in southern California in 2008.

2007 hurtles toward its end in a most frighteningly rapid fashion. Time's a-wastin', I guess.