I often wonder if our sense of place is not tied deeply to our childhood experience- and since we often don't live in those childhood places as adults, if we are constrained to ever feel at home when we leave.
I never moved out of Michigan, but I did move to another city and can't say even after ten years that I truly think of it as home. Will this change as I raise my children here?
This weekend a place-event is happening: the St. Joan of Arc spring fair, an event that is as close to the core of my sense of place as is anything I can imagine. I will never forget the excitement in grade school as the carnival rolled in to town and began setting up in the parking lots adjacent to the school and church. Always in mid-May, the fair represented a time of renewal. We were released from school early on Friday to enjoy the warm spring days and ride the Ship Dragon and Tilt-a-Whirl.
The east side of Detroit and the eastside suburbs- Lake St. Clair, St. Clair Shores, and Grosse Pointe, still feel more like home to me than anywhere else.
Image Credit: Andrew Potter: http://andrewpotterphoto.blogspot.com
