Wassudoo?

14 North Road is where my dad grew up. His parents lived in the basement, his brother and family of 7 kids in the main floors, and occasionally one of the kids would live up in the attic. 4 floors of Sindings.

I spent a lot of time at 14 North Road. My cousin Joe was approximately my age, and I’d go over there to hang out, and hopefully score a delicious Costco dinner of corn dogs or frozen lasagna instead of my mom’s gourmet cooking.

My little (now very tall) cousin, James, was always in the periphery when I would hang out with his brother, Joe. And at some point, when Joe started drinking beers (something I was not at all interested in), I started to hang out with James instead. In the late 90’s or early 2000’s James’s friend, Preston showed up at 14 North Road, and now it’s 2026 and we are still friends.

Strangely I’ve been more places in the world with Preston than I have with my cousin James (or his brothers, to be fair). Preston and I have been to Serbia, Denmark, Italy, and the exotic land of Canada together, in addition to multiple National Parks in our home-state of Washington.

Preston and I share the same birthday. The 3rd of May. Each year I write him “Happy Birthday” and he replies with the same. I’ve always thought it seemed a bit funny to send these messages. We could each just wish ourselves happy birthday instead, right?

In the photos you’ll see our trip to visit our friend Karl in Montana. You’ll see our hike on the Wonderland Trail with friends. You’ll see clamming on the Washington Coast with his bi/curious dog Ziggy. Indoor Bouldering in downtown Tacoma. A hike with his girlfriend through The Enchantments and another in The Goat Rocks with James. Even the riveting photojournalistic adventure of an oil change on his E30 3-series.

Friendship is weird. Decades pass and the experiences compound. There are so many stories that we have together, but when I sit down to think of them individually they all melt into one gigantic untellable story, similar to a Wikipedia post where every 3rd word is a hotlink to a full comprehensive story which would take ages to consume.

July 2026 will probably feature one multiday camping trip and a bike ride or two together. Then I go do my life and come back for December 2026 where we get coffees and maybe start another project on his house, if he has finished his attic renovation by then (we started that YEARS ago and it’s still a mess.). Then it’s July 2027 for another multiday camping trip, and a bike ride or two together. Then December 2027 for another house project.
Repeat until one of us kicks the bucket.

See you in July, doo. One Thrithes

Thanks, Preston.