The other day, as I drove over the rail crossing at Carter Drive, a memory surged through me. I recalled, from over fifty years ago, crossing Carter Drive while walking along the same railroad rails. At the time, I was taking driver’s education at Helena High. Following my class one late afternoon, I found myself stranded without a ride home. Rather than fussing with trying to arrange a ride to East Helena, I opted to strike the rail tracks a few blocks away and walk straight home following them.
I
lived with my grandparents at the time and their house stood only a few yards
off the tracks some four or five miles to the east.
I truly
enjoyed the walk home that evening. I
recall how it gave me a new perspective on entire cloud-crossed valley.
Looking
down along the long, empty rails as I crossed over the other day, I not only
recalled the walk home. I also
remembered the comforting feeling of trotting across the open field between the
rail tracks and my home when I finally reached it.
Someone
said you can never go home again.
But
you can.
—Mitchell
Hegman
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