Are you still mine all mine for a portion of the day Sunday?
We miss you. When are you getting down here again?
Grasshopper brunch. You know you want to go.

When I was younger, My Massachusetts consisted of a very small swath of land. My old house in Middleton and the route to my grandmother's house in Beverly - that was the main patch. There were small offshoots, branching off to family and familiar spots in Lynn, Peabody, Danvers and the like. And, in rare occasions, a foray into Boston.

I remember riding in a car from Lynn to Boston and traveling under a tunnel, but the recollection is seriously skewed. In my memory, I closed my eyes upon entering the tunnel and was in Lynn. When I opened my eyes after the tunnel, I was in Boston.

As I grew older, my favorite state bulked up. I moved from traveling the familiar routes in the backseat to taking control of the trip from the driver's seat. Ventures to the South Shore surfaced; the trip to Quincy became second-nature. Then I learned about getting into Southie. Driving into Cambridge. Demonstrating to Vermont friends how one drives on Storrow. Where on Commonwealth to turn so you can get in the right direction en route to Paradise. Traveling to Somerville and Mission Hill. Taking a quick trip to Braintree. Riding over to Franklin.

But the best part of adding a new location to the V map of Massachusetts is when someone wants to see you. When Massachusetts feels less like a place you want to take on and get to know and more like a place you just happen to be displaced from for the time being. Because it's not just that you want to live in a place and make friends with those you come across; instead a place where many of the people you've befriended happen to live.

And when you prepare to visit this place, you realize you've a list of people you want to see and a list of people you will see. And you're pleased to know that the third list, the people who want to see you, is growing. And that feels pretty lovely.

It will be a good weekend.