Come Heres From Heres Near Fears
COME HERES AND FROM HERES
Just a passing thought I thought I would share with you to give you something to think about. I live on what used to be an island. And no, not THAT island, the only island in the world where when you say "I'm from the Island, they know immediately your not talking about Cuba or Hawaii (The Hawaiin Islands (plural much like all those islands in the Caribbean . "Where you from MON?" "I live in the Islands.)" No, they know you're talking about Long Island, also known as "The Island." I was BORN in New York City, but I grew up on The Island. Nassau County, then Suffolk County.
I'll bet a bunch of you can't name the FIRST two counties on The Island, which are definitely on the Island, but not really considered to be "The Island." Give up? Kings County and Queens County. Kings County is also known as, Brooklyn, and Queens, well it's just known as Queens. I am certain you all know that Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens are actually part of New York City. NYC has five BOUROUGHS. Pronounced like the little holes in the ground that small animals live in; BURROWS, and much like those little holes, some of them are the habitat of some strange little animals, but that's a story for another day. FYI the other three New York City Bouroughs are, in no special order; Staten Island, The Bronx, and Manhattan. Manhattan has the distinction of having a triple name: New York (State) New York (City) New York County. NY, NY, NY. Enough on the Geography lesson.
No, the FORMER island I currently live on is known as the Delmarva Peninsula. It's really not a peninsula because the Army Corps of Engineers cut it loose from New Jersey and points north with the Delaware (C& O)* Canal, also known as "The Ditch. On the southern end is the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay that is crossed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel as it happens to be both. Both a bridge and a tunnel. Kinda scary driving along a bridge only to see it's terminus descend into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The Delmarva Peninsula so named for the three states that are on board; the entire State of Delaware, a part of Maryland, known as the Eastern Shore, and a little smidgen of Virginia at the very tip. Dang, how did I get stuck on another Geography lesson!?
*C& O stands for Chesapeake and Ohio because the canal connects them.
The thing about living on Maryland's Eastern Shore is that before the bridge over "The Ditch" and the Bridge/Tunnel way way down at the other end, the only way on to the Eastern Shore was a Ferry from Annapolis. In 1952 they built a bridge over the Chesapeake Bay, a two lane bridge that lands on Kent Island and then takes a short hop to the Shore. It quickly became Obsolete as Ocean City Maryland and The Delaware Beaches (Lewes, Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, and Fenwick were "Reach the Beach" destinations. They built a second 3-lane bridge in 1964. They alternate running three lanes heading East (borrowing a lane from the Westbound lane) on weekends.
NOW for the human interest piece. I have lived here on the Shore for thirty (30) years. But I could live here for another 30 years, and I would still be a "Come Here" in sharp contrast to "From Here's"- folks born on the Shore. There is a different culture around "From Here's" whose parents, and grandparents and great grandparents live here and will most likely die and be buried here as well. I live here, and unless something untoward befalls me I do not plan on dying here. Don't know where (or when) but it most likely won't be here.
I was talking with my wife and wondering out loud why a friend of mine, who is a "From Here" was so close to another "From Here" who was on the completely opposite end of the political spectrum. She told me that it had more to do with their long-term friendship than who they voted for. "They went to kindergarten together!" she told me.
I started thinking about it. Sadly...I don't have a lot of friends here on the Shore. If I'm lucky I can count them on one hand. And just when I was feeling sorry for myself, and wondering if I had bad breath or something more obnoxious that was scaring them all away, I thought; "Hey you have lots of friends. Some live in Connecticut, some in New York (upstate & The Island), some in California, some in Virginia, some in Florida. Like me, only a few of them are "From there's" having moved about until they settled in the aforementioned states.
And there's the rub. People who are LUCKY enough to be "From Heres" have had their parents close at hand to babysit, and cook big family dinners and gather all the family together. "Come Here's" don't enjoy that luxury. We have to travel to see friends and family while "From Heres" have their best friends only minutes away. And they can go to sports games and do all sorts of stuff to enjoy each others' company. We "Come Here's " have to travel for that. And there are friends who you may never see because they live far away. I have made efforts to visit long time friends in Virginia and California and The Island. We had a grand time. I have lived in New York, and Virginia, and West Virginia and now Maryland. Just call me a vagabond... I wonder if "From Here's " look at us "Come Here's" with disdain....or envy?