“Uxbridge, or, The Rural Survival Guide to Overcoming Sublime Realizations of Meaninglessness”

Uxbridge Town Common, originally uploaded by Svadilfari.

When I sat down in front of my computer just now I intended to do some work, but instead I Googled myself. Apparently, there are some other folks with my name who are cooler, more successful, and better looking. Who knew? What I did find was this old story I published in my college creative non-fiction journal, Thoreau's Rooster. It's called “Uxbridge, or, The Rural Survival Guide to Overcoming Sublime Realizations of Meaninglessness” and it's supposed to be a joke about the small town I grew up in and small town life. I'm pretty sure I have another snarky story about Bar Harbor, Maine I'll post if I can find it.

Looking at this story over eight years later, I realize that it's unnecessarily cynical and, therefore, quite flawed. But not so flawed that I'm ashamed to have people read it, provided they read these few inoculative statements first:
1. My disillusionment with small town New England is gone. In fact, I bet it's about as good a place to live as anywhere.
2. My buddy, Veau, comes across as a bit of a simpleton and townie. He's neither. He's a really cool dude with great taste and he now lives outside Los Angeles.
3. I seem to believe that caring about the place where you live is meaningless to the point of negating the value of life. Wow. I now admire people who care about their community, get involved, and form the interpersonal relationships that make a place a home.
4. I'm off cigarettes (4 years), pizza, and mozzarella sticks (3 years).

So, take it for what it is. You might relate. You might think it's funny. You might think it sucks. But keep in mind that I'm really very fond of Uxbridge. It's home.