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Published: October 24th 2015
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Shelburne FallsPart 1
I moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2006 to be near my daughter and her family. I am happy here. The kids have grown from needy 2 and 5 year olds to independent 11 and 14 year olds. I have my own little house which is a perfect size (read that as comfy chairs, serene bedroom and a tiny kitchen). I have friends to swim with, write with, speak Spanish with, travel with, go to dinner, movies or plays with...I have a good life here. Still, every year I have a longing and need to return 'home' to Massachusetts where I lived for sixty-four years. Yes, I am a Yankee in the south. My need is centered on the deep friendships I had there, the different terrain- from the mountains to the ocean, and my family still living there. So this is a blog about my most recent visit because I've never written about the places I love the most.
One year my brother Don and his wife Cindy drove all the way from there to Memphis. They were lucky because the September weather that year was one of moderate temperatures (low 80's) and no humidity. For some
unknown reason I decided that their stay would take the place of my annual journey 'home' to see the friends who had helped me get through many of life's greatest joys and griefs and a family that keeps growing.
That was a bad decision and I've never made that mistake again. Usually, I go back in the summer but this year it was in early October. I was giddy thinking I might see some foliage. Leaf changing is a mercurious thing and not an exact science so I considered anything I saw to be icing on my travel cake as seeing friends and family was most important.
My stay involved a lot of moving around. I drove from the Hartford, CT airport onto Rt. 91 north through towns as familiar to me as my own name: Springfield, Northampton, Whately, Deerfield. It was dark by the time I got off at the Greenfield exit and headed up Rt.2 west towards Colrain. The night was rainy and the narrow highway was dark- no city street lights out here. I was uncomfortable the entire drive as I've gotten used to well lit six lane city streets. I turned into the village
of Shelburne Falls where not a soul was stirring. I turned onto Rt.112 and followed the curvy road that hugged the Deerfield River. I was headed to Ella's house in Colrain (pop. 1,500). It was on the street where the now defunct covered bridge is but in the dark and rain I passed right by it. I didn't even realize Imhad gone too far until I saw cars in front of the Fire Station/ Police Station/ Town Office building. I turned around and crawled my way back to Ella's street.
Ella, 81, is now retired from a lifetime of working with kids few others wanted to work with. Kids thrown out of their home, or one step away from juvenile lock up. In 1978, she bought the 22 room farmhouse in Colrain where, for fifteen years previous, my husband and I had run a residential summer program for handicapped children. She was owner, director, cook, mother figure , you name it for 'Aquarius House'. She gave lots of love and laughter but mostly structure and common sense. She maintained a 'tight ship' and gave them the guidance and stability missing from their lives. Despite some recent health
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Bridge of Flowers set backs she has maintained her sense of humor and her wit full of sarcastic observations especially about the current political scene.
My days back are filled with visits and a lot of eating. Early the next day I drove along the river into the village of Shelburne Falls (Pop.1,800). It has many claims to fame that few have heard of but apparently movie companies think are great on film. Recent productions were " The Judge" and "Labor Day". The ones I always try to take in are the falls and the Bridge of Flowers. The falls can be a crapshoot -sometimes they are a trickle as the river is used for hydroelectric power and can be damned up or if needed to make electricity flowing strongly. I got lucky as the rain the previous night had created torrents of muddy water rushing high above the barriers crashing over the dam and in its fury washing logs and debris along the way like little toys.
The day was gray with low clouds and drizzly rain. There were few tourists in town so I got to walk the Bridge of Flowers by myself. The five arch bridge
was an old trolley bridge that ran from Colrain, along the river, through Shelburne and crossed over into Buckland. It was discontinued around 1924 and soon was an overgrown mess because water pipes run under the bridge it could not be taken down. In 1929, the local Woman's Club got permission to plant flowers on the span and the rest is history. It will soon be 90 years of taking care of it. It is still supported and maintained by today's Woman's Club and donations.
I met Nancy in Shelburne Falls for breakfast at the Foxtown, a comfy greasy spoon where often the local cop gets up to pour his own coffee refill. Our kids grew up together, my then 3 year old son, now 45 and a teacher, and her, then 5 year old son now 47, and an architect. Our daughters graduated in the same class at Mohawk where her daughter is now principal, while mine is an Interim Dean at a college in Memphis. When the girls were away at college we would meet at Wendy's and cry over our daughter's letters and how much we missed them. Nancy and I separated from our
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Noreen's yard husbands and divorced at almost the same time. When we meet we marvel at the lives we have now. But mostly we talk about our kids and grandkids.She bought a house and takes pride in her vegetable garden and flowers. She started a business called " Nancy Dole, Books and Ephemera". It's on the Buckland side of the bridge should you ever visit.
I drove down Main St. to have lunch with Noreen, my former landlady. She keeps not only a beautiful house inside but the prettiest yard in the village. Her garden has flowers, a small babbling brook that runs into a tiny waterfall that goes into her own koi pond. Well, some years it is the feeding spot for the Great Blue Herons who fly over from the river across the street. We have a mutual admiration society: she thinks I was her best tenant ever and I think she was the best landlady ever. It was a joy to live in her upstairs apartment for six years before I moved to Memphis.
The day was moving on and I had a 'date' for tea at Sue's. She was formerly the librarian
at the local high school. I got to know her when she started the Mary Lyon Educational Foundation in 1990 to help the schools. She has singlehandily raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the schools. I admire her very much. I sat on the Foundation board for thirteen years as I fully believe and support the work they are doing. The school district is made up of nine towns and they are all struggling financially. The Foundation raises money to put on conferences, a Children's Literature Festival, teacher in- services, and school supplies and much more. A few years ago Sue and her husband bought an early 1800's house in Buckland where Mary Lyon (the founder of Mount Holyoke College) once taught. Her actual classroom is preserved on the top floor of the house. Think Downton Abbey grandeur and refinement. I love visiting there as it is so far from my every day ordinary life. Even though it was mid afternoon the dining room was formally set and candles flickered all over the room. Sue is smart, gracious, and generous. If she were a Southerner I'd call her a ' steel magnolia.'
The next day was my 'Kate'
day. At 9 in the morning Imet with Kate D. She specializes in 'elder law' and in 2004 she did up all the 'must have' documents - and if you don't have them you must get them. During our conferences we became friends. Now, despite her arduous schedule, we manage to keep up on our travel. We touch briefly on our kids but mostly this is about us and our being kindred spirits.
The highlight of my day was my reunion with Kate H. We both we're Realtors1981. We worked for different agencies but enjoyed being together on the Multiple Listing Tours every Thursday morning. Our political views leaned left when, at that time, Franklin County was all WASP and mostly Republican. Through life changes over many years we have found each other and helped each other through some dark days. She is working her way back to good health after going through a year from hell. I was overjoyed to see her beautiful face and her spectacular white hair and to hear her laugh. I remind her of our strong Irish grandmothers who went through tremendous hardships just to get to this country. I tell her their blood
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Defunct covered bridge is in us and that their spirit and strength are in our cores.
I had driven through the hills of Colrain, down Coombs hill to look at the spectacular view of New Hampshire and Vermont hills. On a clear day you can see Mount Monadnock. I imagined it but today was too overcast to actually see it, I made a visit to Pine Hill Orchard - a former neighbor. The smell pungent of apples permeated the air. I was surprised to see David in the store. He started the orchard back in 1968 growing Macintosh and Delicious varieties. Now there are about 20 or more kinds in colorful straw baskets: Honey crisp, Gala, Cartland, Macoun, lining shelves inside a walk in cooler the size of a large living room. Years ago David needed land to plant trees. Our land was adjacent to his. He came to us one night in desperation. We agreed to sell. Then he told us he didn't have money right then. We struck a deal where he got the use of the land immediately and we'd get our payment in ten years + apples and cider for life. We never abused that 'deal' still, I'm
sure he wasn't heartbroken when we all had left the area. I smiled and asked him if the 'deal' was still honored. "Sure." He smiled and told the cashier not to charge me.
I took a ride into the hills. Some cattle were nibbling deep green grass. I parked on the side of a hill where purply crests off in the distant Vermont hills were just starting to show flashes of orange and red. I left Colrain and turned onto 10 mile bridge entering Leyden (pop.700) truly a more cows than people town. The Green River was peaceful, gently meandering it's way down to Greenfield. I thought of the havoc it had created during Hurricane Irene in August, 2011 when a house was swept away in the ( Google: hurricane Irene Leyden Massachusetts) . You can see the exact spot where I am now standing on some of those videos.
I continued on to Northfield (pop.2,800) to stay with Lois. We taught school together in the mid '70's. I ended my teaching career in 1993 at the same school where her late husband, Steve, was a guidance counselor. She has a lovely home that sits within eyeshot of
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Foliage her daughter's house. We planned to spend some time just the two of us. Lois was also hosting a pot luck party for many mutual friends of over twenty years. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to see these friends as we shared a lot of history. Seeing them was like being in a warm cuddly blanket. We ate, we talked, we talked some more. Some thanked me for coming ' home' as it was the only time they all got together. Glad to oblige.
My journey continued down to Connecticut with a stop along the way to meet Jill. She had joined my Delta Kappa Gamma chapter in the early '90's. She was principal of the Hooker School (I am not making that up) South Hadley (pop. 17,500). You had to have a great sense of humor to tell people that. She has just retired as Principal at another school. Woohoo! Every year we meet at a Friendly's restaurant in Westfield - our favorite ice cream/ sandwich shop. We tell the waitress that we are in no hurry and that we will leave a big tip.
I finally arrived at my childhood friend, Pat and her
husband Doug.. Being there is as comfortable as a soft slipper as Pat and I have been friends since we were ten years old and we went to high school together. A friendship that long is binding. We remember each other's siblings, when they were funny, whiny, or cool. We remember each other's parents even grandparents. We have laughed together - she was my Maid of Honor and is my daughter's godmother. We have cried together. We drove through the night to stand in line ten hours to walk pass President Kennedy's coffin lying in state in the Capitol rotunda.
A highlight of the visit was a mini- reunion with high school classmates Betsy and Patricia. The day was Hollywood perfect and we were having lunch in the postcard pretty town of West Hartford. During our high school years we hung out with the same crowd. Now fifty six years after graduation we talked about families, books, theater, politics- some for Bernie, some for Hillary, pleased that we were all still liberal Democrats. Serendipitous.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
The places you love most
Back in Massachusetts....glad you made your annual pilgrimage. I could hear your voice as I read the blog and you seemed happy to be on familiar ground rounding those curves. Beautiful fall leaves and loved the cows.