I've had long stretches away from the game too, where I just couldn't get started. It's not an everyday thing for me - I have to be in the mood for DF and if the world conspires against it, then that mood may not come up for months at a time. No matter - when I come back DF may have been updated to a new version and I'll have to re-learn it all.
If what you want to get out of the game is stories, then you can play in either fort or adventure mode - the key is to get involved in the world. You might need a bit of luck and a few tries for this to happen - some worlds are too boring or brutal. Just make sure that you take the time to learn about the world organically. It's very tempting to dump out some files and be reading them with a viewer, or use a hack or mod to make the game faster or easier. But you might find you struggle to reach that thing you're looking for.
If you're an adventurer, pick a town, learn its inhabitants names, needs and quests, and start helping them. If you're a fortress designer, learn the name of your miner and your manager, and follow their lives through frequent visits to see them rather than concentrating on numbers on a management screen.
And personally, I'm very glad I ditched all of the mods. I now just use DFHack for fixing the game-breaking bugs, and a personal RAW file change to make lead crossbow bolts possible because I like it that way.