My navigator was using a Massachusetts topographical map to plot a route through the countryside. Not to hike, thankfully, since it was incredibly cold, but to drive. It was sunny, and the sky was lovely and blue. That a photo op might present itself was always a possibility. My friend worked construction, and from time to time he’d point out an area where he’d worked on a lot of houses, and it seemed that those newer houses in that area had the suburban neighborhood look that I’ve commonly seen, and lived in actually, all over the country. Those aren’t what appeals to me or what I picture when I think of New England. I like the random neighborhoods where the houses look very different from each other, random like the stone walls that look as if they weren’t built but that they just appeared along side the road. He remarked more than once about how built up the countryside has become. Progress I suppose, people do have to live somewhere. But I’m happier to drive through the old neighborhoods that look exactly as they did when I grew up here. And to stop, as we did, for me to take advantage of scenery that I couldn’t resist. Maybe it’s just this time of life. I once read that no one thinks harder than a 2-year-old does, because they are constantly confronted with new things that they have to fit into their understanding of their world. Maybe being retired and having time to think about all the places and experiences of a lifetime is pretty much the same thing. Just trying to make it all make sense… 
The piano is an example of what you might find around town. Old pianos, painted whimsically, and sitting out available for playing, or just admiring. And the Goshen Town Hall used to house a two room school where Noah Webster once taught. Where would we be with out Webster’s dictionary? I might have to head back to Sweet Tymes for an ice cream cone before I leave. Coffee preferably, but I wouldn’t object to some chocolate chips in it…
