Nothing Like New England
Monday, June 30, 2008
Man, I could really fall in love with New England.
We have been these last few days in New Hampshire visiting an old friend of mine. Charlie is 35 now with a wife and two kids, but I met him when he was three. I have tutored him, I have babysat him, I even got him work once. Now he lives in Hawaii and works as a teacher. It’s funny how life twists.
There were several years in the middle when we lost touch. By the time we caught up again, we were both working as bus drivers. We each ended up there after attempting college and failing at it. We hung out occasionally for some years until he moved to Hawaii. We went to visit him just before Zachary was born. He was trying his hand at school once more and I had finally completed my Bachelor’s. Within a year of that visit we moved to New York so that I could become a teacher. Charlie got his certificate just a short time ago.
It’s odd how lives can intermingle and even mirror each other without any overt plan. There are those, it seems, to whom we are eternally tied. We can struggle against it and even attempt to break those ties, but in the end the ties remain. I never in my life would have imagined that I would be in New Hampshire, visiting Charlie and his family, and yet, there we were. It was a good visit; a reconnection with an old friend and a past life. Having moved around as much as I have, I seem to have lost contact with most of the folks who have passed through my life. It’s refreshing to spend time with someone outside my family who has known me so long.
We hung out with Charlie and Beth at her parents’ house in a tiny little burg in the middle of the state. Part of the house was built in the eighteenth century, the rest added on through time. Carrie and I pitched a tent under an awning on top of a deck overlooking the river. The first night it poured buckets of rain and got us thoroughly soaked. The next day we hung everything up in the barn to dry and wandered off to the “Touch a Truck” event at the town hall.
Touch a Truck was just too cool. There were dozens of vehicles in the parking lot next to the hall. There were ambulances, police cars, a semi, tow trucks, a tanker truck, a track hoe, a bulldozer, a cement truck, and fire engines. We got to climb in and on every single one of them. It was the first time I had ever been allowed to sit in the front of a police car! We checked everything out. Zachary, Jamie (4), and Cooper (~3) had a blast. They couldn’t get enough of it. We even got to climb out to the bucket at the end of the giant ladder atop the fire truck.
It rained again that night so we put Zman in with the other two boys and tried our hand at camping once more. None of us got much sleep, but we sure had a good time. I saw a black bear in the early morning hours of today. Needless to say, Carrie drove out.
We landed in Vermont at a tiny little hotel that we have all to ourselves. We had a nice Chinese dinner and a beautiful stroll through town. I also managed to pick up a guitar to practice on while we vacation. After looking at housing prices, we are both seriously considering a move to Vermont. Who could resist this place? It’s gorgeous and only hours from Bear’s Lair. Who could ask for more?
MJR
Man, I could really fall in love with New England.
We have been these last few days in New Hampshire visiting an old friend of mine. Charlie is 35 now with a wife and two kids, but I met him when he was three. I have tutored him, I have babysat him, I even got him work once. Now he lives in Hawaii and works as a teacher. It’s funny how life twists.
There were several years in the middle when we lost touch. By the time we caught up again, we were both working as bus drivers. We each ended up there after attempting college and failing at it. We hung out occasionally for some years until he moved to Hawaii. We went to visit him just before Zachary was born. He was trying his hand at school once more and I had finally completed my Bachelor’s. Within a year of that visit we moved to New York so that I could become a teacher. Charlie got his certificate just a short time ago.
It’s odd how lives can intermingle and even mirror each other without any overt plan. There are those, it seems, to whom we are eternally tied. We can struggle against it and even attempt to break those ties, but in the end the ties remain. I never in my life would have imagined that I would be in New Hampshire, visiting Charlie and his family, and yet, there we were. It was a good visit; a reconnection with an old friend and a past life. Having moved around as much as I have, I seem to have lost contact with most of the folks who have passed through my life. It’s refreshing to spend time with someone outside my family who has known me so long.
We hung out with Charlie and Beth at her parents’ house in a tiny little burg in the middle of the state. Part of the house was built in the eighteenth century, the rest added on through time. Carrie and I pitched a tent under an awning on top of a deck overlooking the river. The first night it poured buckets of rain and got us thoroughly soaked. The next day we hung everything up in the barn to dry and wandered off to the “Touch a Truck” event at the town hall.
Touch a Truck was just too cool. There were dozens of vehicles in the parking lot next to the hall. There were ambulances, police cars, a semi, tow trucks, a tanker truck, a track hoe, a bulldozer, a cement truck, and fire engines. We got to climb in and on every single one of them. It was the first time I had ever been allowed to sit in the front of a police car! We checked everything out. Zachary, Jamie (4), and Cooper (~3) had a blast. They couldn’t get enough of it. We even got to climb out to the bucket at the end of the giant ladder atop the fire truck.
It rained again that night so we put Zman in with the other two boys and tried our hand at camping once more. None of us got much sleep, but we sure had a good time. I saw a black bear in the early morning hours of today. Needless to say, Carrie drove out.We landed in Vermont at a tiny little hotel that we have all to ourselves. We had a nice Chinese dinner and a beautiful stroll through town. I also managed to pick up a guitar to practice on while we vacation. After looking at housing prices, we are both seriously considering a move to Vermont. Who could resist this place? It’s gorgeous and only hours from Bear’s Lair. Who could ask for more?
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 10:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home