Travels with George #6

Tuesday, November 14th was our last day on the road before reaching home. We started from Youngstown, Ohio at 8:10 am, and arrived in West Chicago at 2:47 pm. Kindly recall that we regained the time zone hour we lost on the way east.

This was a good day for travel because the route was easy, well known, flat and mostly straight. Traffic was variable with heavy truck traffic throughout. Speeds were 75 plus. The challenge was maneuvering around crazy drivers in cars around the big trucks. The trucks were not the problem; the auto drivers were. Well, one is professional at the task, and the others are not. Enough said.

Having said that, the trip was boring that day. Landscapes were typically flatland prairie. Oh, a little hilly between Youngstown and Cleveland, but soon thereafter it is low country and generally flat farmland. Much like Illinois, the drivetime was humdrum and gave us time to think over our travels.

The experience was very good. Here are some overall impressions:

1.       Having lived in the Midwest (all Illinois) for 63 years, experiencing any landscape not our own is quite interesting and mostly beautiful.

2.       I lived in the Pasadena and Altadena region of California for eleven years from birth to relocation. That area is groomed and lush. It is filled with flowers and ornamental shrubs and trees. Visit YouTube and enter Altadena, CA to see what I mean. That was a starting point for my memories of place.

3.       New England is stunningly beautiful. In its own right it is a winner. When I was a lad living there after my California experience, New England was different. I didn’t take the time then to delight in its beauty. But this trip? WOW! I can’t say enough about the natural beauty of the Berkshires Hills of western Massachusetts. Marvelous through and through.

4.       New England is also quaint. Architecture, building placement in woods and at curbside even on heavily traveled roads. The colonial wonder is evident everywhere. Towns were established in the early 1700’s, something we don’t normally think about in prairie states where incorporation was often after 1850.

5.       The Berkshires are loaded with culture. Music, mostly classical, theatre arts of every stripe, dance genres of all kinds, music history and education of same often available, museums of incredible art both structural and visual, and educational institutions with historic pasts and reputations. This is an arena of mankind knowing and expressing itself in many ways. All for the asking and looking, too. If you are into culture, this is the place for you!

6.       Friendly people. Very eager to talk and welcome you. Casual, too. Nothing fancy about this region. Sophistication is real, just not dressed to kill.

I picked up on something else on this visit. We don’t often know what is missing. When I moved to Pittsfield in 1954, I ask a neighboring couple – Dottie and Scotty Baird – what the aroma was in the neighborhood, in fact all throughout Pittsfield. I smelled it immediately and remarked about it. Spicy, even savory, it prickled my senses. Dottie and Scotty scratched their heads for a while. Finally, they said, “wild thyme.” It grows in season for months. Those who live there often don’t notice it. Visitors catch the scent almost immediately. This trip was fall and outside the thyme season. No smell other than decaying leaves. I did miss it this time.

I suppose I will have more to say about this trip. Afterall, it was a visit to an earlier age in my life. It was a fond time of life. The memories did rekindle. Also the sensations from my youth. Very interesting and often emotional.

Yes, this was a trip well worth taking. It will be a deep well of memories for my remaining years. Thanks to daughter Liz and friend Pam for making it possible. We had fun together on the trip, but also heightened appreciation of what we experienced. Thank you to all for this trip down memory lane. Some of you helped finance the trip as well. To all of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Oh, and Pam was the official photographer for us. She will share the pictures later when they are organized and captioned.

November 21, 2023

 

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