Flashes of Panic

My home town was in the Globe’s Travel feature yesterday. I should qualify this by noting that I actually grew up in an even smaller town (by population, anyway) just to the south, but even in-state it’s easier to just name the “city” than try to explain where the small town is.

I learned about the Globe feature through an evening email from my aunt, who hadn’t been able to get a copy up in Maine and was asking the Massachusetts wing of the family if we could save a clipping somewhere. I walked up to Teele Square a little after 11 and picked up one of the last two copies at the convenience store there; they didn’t sell out because, after all, their city is in the paper every day, and not even buried on the back page of the Food section.

I reflected that there weren’t many places where I could walk a few blocks and get a paper, a gallon of OJ, and a spare battery for the smoke alarm after 11 PM up in my home town—particularly in the small town, where most people aren’t in walking distance of any store. On the other hand, I reminded myself, this is the first time I’ve done that in over two years in the Boston area, and it’s possible it will be the only time.

Now Playing: Birdman from Live Light (France, 11/1994) by Ride

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