woodbury

I spent the last 2 and a half days at home with my family in Woodbury, Minnesota. It was so beautiful there. It was lush and green and the weather was completely perfectly splendid. I didn't even get one mosquito bite. It was the first time in five years of visits to Minnesota that I didn’t hit up the night life of Minneapolis. Michael (brother) is quasi living at home and The Cunnien Ranch had only one operable vehicle. This meant no trekking to Minneapolis to enjoy one of the most underestimated, cosmopolitan, edgy cities in the Midwest. It was actually quite OK with me to spend my time at home in Woodbury. It was peaceful, relaxing, enjoyable and it was so nice to spend time with my family.

Going home to Woodbury has become bittersweet. I will always love going to my hometown and even more I will always love going to the home were I spent the first 21 years of my life. The place I grew up, Cottage Grove Drive, is not the same anymore. I grew up in the bonafide country. It was technically a suburb and "civilization" (in the form of a convenient store) was a mere 5-7 minute drive but, my childhood home was surrounded by corn fields and trees. It was a young boys paradise. Today, my parent's house is surrounded by $800,000, 3 car garage, two story, cookie cutter, suburban style homes. And I mean surrounded. What was once an enormous field where I spent many a summer day running through corn rows (actual rows of corn not hair) and building tree forts has become Woodbury's newest sub development, Stonemill Farms. It is indeed urban sprawl at its worst. Oh how I long for the Woodbury of my childhood.