Where We Was From

A few weeks ago I went North. My family comes from the North and I am reminded every time I visit. I lived there for a summer or two when I was small and while I now know ocean air well, the smell of almond husks in the heat is not yet foreign to me. My father grew up there and while his life is now in Oakland he and Red Bluff still call each other home. My parents met in Mineral and even my dog came from somewhere up there. The first time I went on a long roadtrip by myself I drove to Redding. I retraced some of those steps a few weeks ago.