Misty Watercolor Delaware Memories of the Way I Was (part 1)

It's funny being a native of Delaware in DC. Every summer , tons of people visit the beaches and towns where I spent most of the first 20 years of my life for fun and frolic. You know the Running of the (Fake) Bull? I didn't. Ever been to a Punkin' Chunkin'? I haven't, and I regret that.

Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, thus it's slogan that adorns the license plates "The First State". When we first moved there I saw that on the rear bumper on my granddad's car and thought, "First state? I never even heard of the place until we moved here." And this was when I was 6, long before I developed my trademark wit. That still makes more sense than one its also known for, "The Diamond State". I, to this day, have no idea how this stuck.

It hasn't felt like home in a long time. But it was, from 6 to 12 in Rehoboth(briefly) thenLewes and from 12 to 20 in Georgetown. You practically take a traveling tour the next time you drive to Rehoboth or Dewey Beach as you go around Georgetown's traffic circle and past Five Points(where I lived through elementary school) as you make your way beachward.

I have a lot of friends from DC that had passed 'round the Georgetown circle who have said,"That seems like a nice small town to live in", mostly ones that grew up in the city. Really, something tells me the first time you drive a half hour to go to the movies might make you recalibrate that opinion.

The most accurate assessment of the area was that it's a great place to retire. But great places to retire are shitty places to grow up. Just ask anyone who grew up in Florida. I wasn't weird, I mean I had a jean jacket and everything, but I was just weird enough to feel isolated from everyone else. It's was enough to make a straight boy listen to The Smiths and write the lyrics on his Chuck Taylors, and insure that he would remain a virgin for the longest time possible.

I could try to paint a picture of all the things Georgetownian to help along my more urbane readers but I gut use this example: I once had a kid call me a "hippie" at a party because I had a Ramones T-shirt on.

And the worst part is the reason why I hated it was a source of local pride. In Millsboro, there is a store where you can buy official "Slower Lower Delaware" merchandise. You can buy any number of items with the slower lower Delaware mascot, surprisingly, a turtle, to remind you that it's not your imagination, shit is REALLY moving that slow.