Silver Linings

Around this time last year, a giant snowstorm dumped well over a foot of snow on us. I grabbed a shovel, and cleared out a 50 foot driveway. 

We didn't get another storm like that until now.

But these are things we go through every year. Some people grow tired of the yearly winter grind and move to warmer climates. Others hunker down and try to make it easier on themselves. 

In an ideal New England situation: the car is garaged, your driveway is short, and the town plows things in a efficient manner. But if it is only a few storms a year, I think we can deal with it.

 If not? I'll buy a snowblower!

 

Four Seasons

 

Last year, I started taking a backroads drive North to Franklin County. Past cows, swamps, farms, orchards, hills, small towns and sweeping vistas.

I decided I preferred taking the scenic route, and it's renewed perspective on my life. It gave me the time to gaze at the present and focus on the future. 

This old land seems brand new to me. 

Largely untouched by the encroachment of civilization, only a few newer homes (with amazing views) show the signs of the "Bedroom Community" status all of this area has officially earned by now.

Cul De Sac

And when they all,

All go home

Down the cobblestones

You will double back

To a cul de sac - Van Morrison

I woke up to the sound of a cat's collar jingling.

Looking out of one eye, I look to the bedroom window facing the east, and guess that it is around 8 or 9AM. I decide to get up and start the morning, while my girlfriend sleeps soundly.

I share a 4 bedroom colonial house with 4 cats, and two young daughters, who spend most of the weekend with their father. Fumbling for the coffee maker, I look out the window to see a blanket of fog draped all over a pastoral landscape of the Connecticut River valley. I've lived in Western Massachusetts for 20 years, but this has been my first year as a resident of Franklin County. My neighborhood is a pleasant, mostly quiet Cul De Sac. The only noises I tend to hear is the occasional delivery truck, or a neighbor's dog barking. At night, the woods come alive, with fox, coyote and owls all letting their voices be heard.

For the past several months, Covid-19 has shut down much of my occupation as a self employed musician, and the year started with the passing of my father after a long illness. I ended up selling my house and moving in with my girlfriend of the past two years, while I wait for a vaccine, so I can start working again. 

I make some coffee for the two of us, leave one next to her bedside, and go for a walk.