New England's Narrow Road

Keeping in Touch With New England

I have to keep reminding myself that in many areas of the country summer is almost over. September brings fall colors to my old home town and the New England area, but I am not there. I find myself missing all the things I knew I would miss. I miss the fresh air, cool breezes, cool anything. I sit in front of a fan, in an air-conditioned house to find my cool air these days.

I miss the quietness of my front yard. I’d sit under the big oak out front and just drink in the peace. I knew that not everywhere was that nice, and I sooooo appreciated every minute of the five years I had it to enjoy.

I miss my gardens and wonder how my hydrangeas are doing. They would be blooming by now, and in fact my elderly neighbor in the north has told me how lovely the white flowers by the front door look. Those would be the Limelight variety. They always grow long branches with big heavy flowers. The Pinky Winky hydrangea was one of my favorites and I hope the buyers of my home are appreciating their loveliness.

I miss sleeping with the window open, and snuggling up under my blankets. I used to sleep so well. I miss my big kitchen and my little back deck. I miss all that storage space in my basement! No more basements. Florida homes don’t have them. That’s a whole floor full of space that is just gone! So I’ve had to downsize. Nothing wrong with that. I have way too much stuff anyway.

Fall is coming and I won’t be there to see the colors. I won’t crunch in the fallen leaves or see the tour busses pull into the shopping center so flatlanders can get their photos. I won’t be pulling on a jacket any time soon, and I certainly won’t be raking leaves. That part of my old life I won’t miss. I loved my trees, but boy did I have some autumn raking to do.

But what I really miss is something I’ve never had at all. A peaceful, normal life where I am not constantly moving or thinking about moving. A life where I can think about living and doing things that normal people do. I will be moving out of this rental and into a new place soon. There are no vegetable gardens there, so I will start from scratch once again. It seems that life will always be difficult and full of strife, but I never count on anything. I have no idea what lies ahead.

I’ll always miss fall in New England, but I knew I would.

Saying Good-Bye to New England

I grew up in New England. I moved back for eleven years, and recently I moved away again. I started this blog to share my adventures in the northeastern US, but alas, I didn’t have many fun adventures.

I moved 5 times, and dealt with a lot of unexpected difficulties during my time in the north. I only stayed as long as I did to see my son graduate from high school.

The truth was that I was too poor to do much of anything while I lived in New Hampshire. I could hike – which is free – but I had no friends living near me. My daughter and I used to hike, but then she got sick. (She is better now.) She also works a regular, full-time job, like many people, and was busy on her days off. I don’t like to hike alone.

Picking blueberries along Gregg Lake was also one of my yearly traditions. I moved too soon to enjoy that this year.

I work from home, so my hours are flexible, but there was little reason to take time off. I would have loved to vacation on a lake each summer and have the kids join me. We did that once in the 11 years and it was wonderful.

I love New England, but it has become a place for the wealthy to live. Or at least the ones who are wealthier than me. I certainly enjoyed my summer gardening and the fresh, clean air that is always available. But I did not appreciate the unpredictable winters and heating oil bills. Taking care of a house all by myself had become quite a chore as well.

When things are not working, they must change. So I made the change. I no longer live in my beloved northeast, so writing a blog about the area makes little sense. Now it’s time to get back to living life instead of watching everyone else live it.

My focus will now be on my Florida blog: Seashells by Millhill. Pop on over there if you care to read more of my posts.

Icy Snow Covering Everything Today

Fontana watches for birds

Snow on the bird feeders

Snow covering the icy ground this morning. Just another day during a New England winter.

Winter can be beautiful, and I love seeing the snow. Life in the north can be tough, and especially so for an older woman without a man to help out. I’m capable of shoveling the deck and entryways. I lug wood and build a fire in the wood stove. And I run the snowblower and shovel out the mailbox. I even feed the birds and sometimes make my own suet for them. That means shoveling a path through the backyard to get to the feeders.

But the things that are most difficult for me are the problems that arise that I can’t fix, like when there is too much snow on the roof, or the driveway is all ice and we can’t get the car out. It’s hard for me to buy sand because it’s too heavy for me to move. Or when snowstorms cover the mailbox with heavy cement-like snow that I simply can’t lift with the shovel.

As my son has gotten older he can help more. He’s not happy about it, and he is away at school all day of course, but I do have that.

Here’s the thing; I am only getting older and I have no one to turn to for help. I hire the help when I can’t handle things, but I don’t have much money for that either.

Living in New England can be beautiful, but for me, the work and worry overshadows the beauty most of the time.