Visiting the Natti

Last weekend I flew back to my old stomping grounds in Cincinnati to visit my best friend David. He's been a little under the weather (well, a lot under the weather) and it seemed like a great time for a visit. I had not been there since last spring for my annual sojourn for my fantasy baseball draft (which, oddly, I have never blogged about). Even though I grew up in Indiana I've always considered Cincinnati to be my hometown, and I get that nostalgic rush whenever I drive into the city that I never do when I actually come home to Indiana (it probably helps that Lawrenceburg, the town where I spent most of my childhood, is a pretty dreadful place - although I still have pleasant associations with Rising Sun, where I lived when I was really little). Anyway, I had no great plans for the visit other than spending time with David. We sat around and ate ghetta (a Cincinnati specialty - sausage and oats rolled together, and sometimes with onions or garlic - delicious, and something that is very hard to get outside of the Natti), went to the First Watch (a great Cincinnati place to get breakfast) and watched movies and football/baseball games - and just talked endlessly. It was a great visit - and the reports of David's demise are greatly exaggerated, which does my heart good because he's been my best friend for twenty-five years. And his great dog Dudley (named after the Cary Grant character in The Bishop's Wife) is also doing great. It did make me want to get back home more often. One of the things that I have finally learned over the last couple years is that life is short and even I don't get a free pass, and I truly want to be a better friend and spend more time with those folks that are close to me (and I'm very fortunate to have a lot of great friends).