My Blog List

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Riding Around New England, Part 1


            It's an old dirt road, that goes to nowhere. Really. It ends,with a muddy bump at an iron gate. You can go no further. It was muddy, in spots, and rough. It was narrow. The branches brushed against the sides of the car. Shy violets grew along side of it. "The worst road I have ever traveled on," wrote a revolutionary soldier in his diary. "All mud and ruts.." He was slogging through in September of 1777  with General John Stark, from New Hampshire, through Vermont, to fight the British in the Battle of Bennington. Perhaps some things haven't changed much!
          The sun shines. The sky is blue, with white fluffy clouds. The wind is chill. New England has turned green after the snow melted, we had some warm days, and then a few days of rain. The leaves are all unfurled, every different shade of new green that you can imagine. The dandelions bow and nod in the breeze. I konw they are just a pesky weed, but when you see a meadow flooded with those yellow faces, its  beautiful!
  
              The fruit trees are all a blossom. Even here out on a dirt road to nowhere, you see them shimmering in the sun shine, left over from days gone by.Days when this road went to farms and homes and pastures and barns and orchards. I see the stone walls, the granite foundations, the stray daffodils, the huge lilac bushes. A granite post says this was the town center. Here stood a church, a school, a post ofice. Here people walked and rode their horses and buggies. Here they worshipped, learned to read and write. Here they waited for a letter. An old, old cemetery sits in the sunshine. The walls around it are still straight and true. The gate is gone, but the path through it is still discernable. Here people mourned. I ponder the brevity of life. Once a thriving living town. Now a forest. Only a trace of humanity left behind.


                   A hawk soars and dips. Turkey vultures ride the wind with out moving their wings at all. The farmers have begun plowing. The crows hop in the newly turned earth. The river rushes white over the rocks, foaming and swirling.



      There is a tiny house, all made of stones. It's like a fairy tale house. The three bears could have lived here. It has sturdy wooden doors and windows that look out from deep with in the thick walls. I am enchanted. It half  hides behind the trees. You could drive by, and not see it.


            There's a fountain.Cold clear water slashes from it. How many years has it bubbled here? It's a memory fountain. Chiseled into the granite, it says " Barna A. Clark. A true friend and a good man. 1896." What a good report, of a man. Could we ask for more than that?
           A break in the trees reveals the mountain.Just standing there like it always has, patient and strong and beautiful. I know why people live here. And why people like me go riding around looking for these things.

            Did I say it was a road to nowhere? Look where it brought me! I rode into yesterday. I lived on it today. I could see tomorow. Give me a road to nowhere, any time.















 
 
 
  

17 comments:

  1. Perfectly wonderful kind of a drive! I can't believe the history you have so close to where you live.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uh huh.....I'm with Lyra. Where was that? So beautiful! Is that Amos Fortune's mountain?

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I originally commented I clicked the "Notify me when new comments are added" checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment.
    Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
    Many thanks!

    my homepage: sunrisesinthewest.org

    ReplyDelete
  4. I do not know whether it's just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues with your site. It appears as though some of the text in your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This might be a problem with my browser because I've had this happen before.
    Appreciate it

    My web page :: pirater un Compte facebook

    ReplyDelete
  5. I will immediately clutch your rss as I can not to find your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service.
    Do you’ve any?
    Please let me realize in order that I may just subscribe.

    Thanks.

    Here is my homepage :: garden

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article.
    Thank you for providing these details.

    Look at my blog post - click through the following post

    ReplyDelete
  7. just how this operate lol ?! :/

    Also visit my web page - online dating apps for android

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really like your writing style, great info, regards for putting up . “Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility.”

    ReplyDelete
  9. Woah! I'm really enjoying the template/theme of this
    site. It's simple, yet effective. A lot of times it's hard to get that "perfect balance" between user friendliness and
    visual appeal. I must say that you've done a great job with this.
    In addition, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Opera.
    Exceptional Blog!

    Feel free to visit my webpage cheap air max

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have been surfing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never
    found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough
    for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made good
    content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever
    before.

    my website Hair Salon Ideas Langley BC

    ReplyDelete
  11. Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam remarks?
    If so how do you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can recommend?
    I get so much lately it's driving me mad so any
    assistance is very much appreciated.

    Review my site; Pills to lose weight

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is highly recommended to work with those services as they insure
    that most of the movers are certified and insured. Sometimes it really can be as simple
    as turning the device on and off. There are all sorts
    of people that are leading very busy lives and do not know where
    they will find the time to get the things they need to get done with regards to their move
    in order.

    My web blog :: รถรับจ้าง

    ReplyDelete
  13. But again, you will be the Russian Square Game is actually the simulation. Translations from English, minecraft pocket edition cheats Chinese, French or Greek.
    People can minecraft pocket edition cheats always bring us fun and aged people
    take them as a pocket gaming console. With
    the minecraft pocket edition cheats exciting features added to this device, loaded
    into the markets and they are given attractive tiles that are compatible with many variations.
    A well planned, attractive and funny in an exciting new games, read on.

    Here is my web blog minecraft pocket edition hack no survey

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is the perfect web site for anyone who really wants to understand this topic.
    You understand so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa).
    You definitely put a fresh spin on a topic that's been discussed for many years.
    Great stuff, just wonderful!

    Have a look at my web-site: Stumpblog

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am really impressed from your imaginative thinking and impressive stated information, i am glad.

    ReplyDelete