Novelist Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again.

Physically, you can, but the idea is that things will never be the same and you’ll never capture your idea of what once was.

That occurred to me the other day when I was down in Washington to cover the boys basketball game between Butler and Canon-McMillan at my alma mater, Trinity High School.

Having not lived in Washington for quite some time — although I go back a few times a year — I was expecting the same old school, the same old gymnasium, that I remember. I grew up a few miles away and don’t frequent that neighborhood, so when I went to the school, I was completely caught off guard.

I haven’t been inside the school since I covered a basketball game for another paper almost 20 years ago and I moved up to Butler in 1996, but everything on the outside was still as I remembered it when I graduated back in 1984 — please, don’t do the math.

You had your typical brick building, basic gymnasium, the usual — until Thursday night when I drove to the school.

As I entered the campus, a huge, ground-level marquee sign with digital display greeted visitors, then as I drove to the back, I expected to park, then walk to a small foyer that faced the track and enter through some plain glass doors.

Being the Hillers, our school was pretty much the highest point in town and overlooked Washington, including the courthouse. That sight from the back was expected and looked great with snow and Christmas lights, but the back of the school was transformed.

A three-story high glass entrance highlighted the back part of the school, as well as a hallway with trophy cases and plaques of past glories, the gymnasium with the school name and motto, new floor with the school name and two brand new scoreboards, plus another one at the scorer’s table.

Behind that was new locker rooms — several, not just the two I remember. I remember just one small hallway with two gym teacher offices, which led you to the basement classrooms and lockers.

An acquaintance who was doing the announcing had caught me up to date with the changes to the whole school. He wanted to show me around, but had to announce the second game of the tournament as well. He told me to walk around and look, but I only went down the hallway. Brand-new, bright blue lockers lined the hall and vending machines too.

Some friends on social media told me after the fact they did this about four years ago. Not even my mother told me they did a major, major update.

I drove around the building before leaving and saw the exterior changes, which also surprised me. The last major project I ever remembered was when we were in high school and they eliminated some front parking spaces for the band to practice.

Needless to say, this was a lot more than that.

I always just thought of Trinity being just plain old Trinity, nothing flashy, but a great school which I had a lot of great memories. I always assumed the school would stay that way.

It seems it has changed with the times, which I never envisioned. It seems the school has moved on, just like we all do.

Maybe you can never go home again, but sometimes, it’s just fun to look around.