Getting Ready

Yes, getting ready to travel to western Massachusetts. We start out this Thursday. Aiming for Pittsfield which is the seat of Berkshire County, home of the Berkshire hills. The county is the entire western end of the state and borders Vermont on the north, New York on the west, and Connecticut to the south.

I lived there from 1954 to 1960. Moved in at 11 years of age and moved out at 17. Spent my 18^th year in Syracuse, New York. While there I graduated high school and prepped for college in the fall of 1961. I chose Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and commuted for summer and Christmas vacation every year for four years.

That meant driving or traveling from Illinois through Indiana, Ohio and New York. The trip from Syracuse to Pittsfield was about 220 miles and a mere extension of the Illinois to New York route. Back again to campus. And because my parents continued to live in New York and for a short time, Connecticut, I drove the route many times. Back and forth. A lot of interstate roads, mostly I-90 and I-80. The landscapes became familiar.

I expect this road trip to rekindle those landscape memories. We will take the New York Thruway route to the Mass Turnpike, from then up to Pittsfield. Return trip will go through the southern tier of New York and northern Pennsylvania, then thru Ohio to Illinois. A little change up of scenery, all lush and hilly. So eastern.  So colonial, really. Fond memories of those places with recall of memories of growing up.

Remember those days? The pre-teen to late teens? So much encountered of life, so much questioned, and so much learned. Or maybe I should say, malformed? A lot of early lessons were incomplete and only later life experience honed a more accurate picture. Meanwhile, the hormones flowed and the emotions were a clutter.

I think of the pending trip. I wonder what I will find. I wonder how much of the old will rekindle. And how much of that simply won’t. I suspect a lot of the latter.

I plan on wandering the old neighborhood, finding the favorite spots at the lake, pond, woods and country bike lanes, and thinking back to the days of original discovery. Those were heady days. Will they seem so now? I doubt it. Sad but true.

Oh, I will drive by the old schools, the church, shopping districts and favorite haunts. Tanglewood of course, Stockbridge, Lenox, Dalton and North Adams. Mt. Greylock, perhaps. A lot of driving to see, feel and smell the past. It was a memorable time. I doubt recall will come easily. But then, that is what I will report upon my return.

Massachusetts was a starkly different place from where I originated. I was born in Pasadena, California, lived in Altadena to the north at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. Lived for three years on the Mojave Desert, and then back to Altadena and thence to Glendora to a new house we built. Didn’t stay long there. Dad got a new job in Massachusetts after just 6 months in the new house. We stayed another year to sell and finish the school year before trekking across country.  That trip was a doozy and very interesting. The southwest to the northeast is a different culture zone and climate. We were in for a lot of changes. Not all of those were bad. Some were life altering and most welcome.

Well, memory lane will soon be tested. I’ll let you know what I learn from this trip. Stay tuned!

November 6, 2023