Yesterday was Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts so I had the day off from work. I watched the Boston Marathon which was interesting because I caught glimpses of the place I used to work. The heat was in the high 80’s so I’m sure it was a brutal run for the competitors. I had more leisurely pursuits in mind. My wife and I decided to take a day trip and I spent the morning doing a map reconnaissance that would take us by fifteen lakes and end at my hometown in New Hampshire. It was a spur of the moment thing and it ended up being a fabulous day of hanging out together and experiencing the truly breathtaking natural splendor of New England. We pass by it everyday and seldom take notice of just how blessed we are. Yesterday we slowed down and took notice and it was totally worth the effort. I’ve been all over the world and I now appreciate just how gorgeous New England is – I’d put it up against any place I’ve been in terms of natural beauty. I grew up in the area but I made a real effort to chart a route that would take us to places I had never been. We stopped and took pictures at each lake. The map reconnaissance was good but not perfect, at least in my co-pilot’s (the wife) eyes. We were using her car and the map hadn’t shown the condition of some of the roads which in many cases were unimproved dirt roads still recovering from the winter. I thought it was great but she was a little concerned. We had talked about washing the car prior to the trip but decided to wait – good decision. I love traveling these back roads which we had completely to ourselves for the most part. We ended up completely circling Mount Monadnock, the central geographic feature of the area. We only got off route once, due to lack of road signs, but we were able to figure out where the next destination was and just kept taking turns in that direction until we reached it. I made sure we would pass by my Uncle Bud’s cottage in Harrisville, NH. My family spent a couple weeks there every summer and I remember those as some of the happiest days of my youth and the last family vacations prior to my parents’ divorce. The cottage was still there but looked a lot smaller. My co-pilot was posing for a picture at the next lake and skinned up her ankle pretty badly but she rangered on. The water at Silver Lake was so clear that I recommended she dunk her sore foot into it. She did for all of about 2 microseconds – still had a bit of the winter coolness in it. We ended the day in Keene, my hometown, the wife dropped me off at my favorite bar while she shopped (ankle apparently recovered) – each going with our strengths. I was shortly joined by one of my best friends for some quality philosophizing time. My wife eventually showed back up and we went out for dinner eating outdoors in central Keene watching the town walk by. The day unfortunately ended as we made our way home and rescued the greatly relieved Buddy, who took one for the team yesterday. It was definitely a road not taken kind of day yesterday, and it definitely made all the difference.
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