ROOTED

Chattanooga is my parents’ hometown. I wasn’t born there, but I did spend a few years there as a small child. We’ve visited many times, of course...mostly family gatherings and holidays.

It looks different to me today. A few fuzzy childhood memories return when I do, but I am mostly fascinated by the city’s details. Clues, perhaps...to the people I came from.

East Ridge (mom’s stomping grounds) looks lifted out of a midwest, rust-belt factory town. Taverns and shopping centers built in the sixties, still standing. Still frequented by locals.

The foot of Lookout Mountain (dad’s neighborhood) has added the requisite Walmarts and Cracker Barrels by the interstate, but maintains its rolling, rural feel. Reminiscent of other off-the-highway locales in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia.

And that hulking skeleton that haunts the riverfront: Combustion Engineering. Where both of my grandfathers worked...that intrigues me the most.