Well we made it to Dalton, and we’ve set up shoe at the Shamrock Village Inn. It’s a hiker motel, and it’s about what you’d expect in a place that caters to dirty hiker trash….like us. It’s completely and totally glorious. Cheap prices, an easy walk to Paddy’s where you can grab a great cheeseburger or shepherd’s pie, heaters that work, hot water, and a soft place to sleep out of the rain. Everything one could hope for in a place to crash.
Dad and I have a habit that we picked up from Mandy Lea of Mandy Lea Photography. Side note….if you’re not acquainted with Mandy’s story, you should really go check it out at:
She’s a fabulous photographer and even more fabulous human being. Roaming the country, and now internationally in a @TAB trailer bringing the beauty of the world to people who cannot go themselves and inspiring people to follow their dreams! Check out her story. She’s the real deal.
Anyway, back to the pilgrimage.
The habit that Mandy suggested, and we’ve been following is to name the highlight of the day, the lowlight of the day, and something you’re grateful for that happened during the day. We’re writing these down in addition to naming them, but today Dad noted that his lowlight was that the hills of western Massachusetts were still in the embrace of late winter. There’s a little snow along the roads and many of the lakes and ponds that we passed are still partially covered in ice.
Waiting for spring this lonely rowboat seems to be pining for warmer days as ice coats the lake that she plies in warmer times.
We covered a little over eighteen miles today at a little over two miles per hour. The hills were steep going up and going down, and we had a pretty steep climb to the highest church in New England in Peru, Massachusetts located at an altitude of 2,064 feet. Not in the same class as the western mountains, but hey, we’re feeling pretty accomplished.
These hills are going to be spectacularly beautiful in a couple of weeks, but if you look closely enough there’s beauty in the embryonic awakening that is just on the edge of becoming a reality. The robins are out, and at the lower altitudes the frogs are beginning to chirp. Higher up, folks are getting ready for the maple sap harvest.
Sap tap on a maple tree awaiting the return of spring.
The signs of the rebirth associated with spring are all around, and the fact that they’re not quite here yet, the lowlight of the day, just serves to emphasize how special these things will be when they finally arrive in the next couple of weeks. We’ll have moved on, but I’m sure the folks left behind will enjoy the awakening
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