Circles

As I was driving the 28 miles home from work this evening, I heard a traffic report stating there was a lot of congestion on I-295. I was a mile north of the packed Interstate and quickly decided to make a right of Route 73 and take Kings Highway home.

I drove past the street that led to the house my friend Peggy grew up in. I recalled some of the moments that our circle of friends shared at that house. I remembered Peggy's fluffy white comforter, the American flag that hung from her bedroom ceiling, the little round frozen pizzas that were in one of the extra refrigerators in the garage.

I missed my friends. I missed Peggy, Jennifer, Diane, Sean, Nick and the others that came and went from our circle. I missed getting together almost every night. Drinking coffee after coffee at Denny's. Watching movies in Peggy's family room. The endless pitcher of iced tea at my house. Listening to Sean's band practice in his basement. I missed dressing up to dance the night away at Revival and the Troc.

I missed heavy black eyeliner, crucifixes and Vogueing. Black tights under jean shorts, 14-hole Doc Marten boots and crazy haircuts.

How wonderful those days remain in my memory - our perfect little circle.

I came back to 2011 when it was time to decide which of the dozens of lanes I had to be in to get across Route 70. I still don't quite get the confusing stoplight system that replace the Ellisburg Circle.

Two circles which have dissipated; which changed through time.

I understood those circles, even though those outside the loop never quite got it.