Calgon, take me away!

Long time, no post. Yes, I know it's been awhile. Things have been a little (understatement alert) busy around here lately. And it's been one of those rare times I haven't felt all too talkative. Feel grateful. Really. These times are truly rare. Besides, you know you needed the vacation!

Speaking of vacations, I think I need one. A vacation from my vacation, so to speak. Anyone up for Disneyland?

I went there once, when I was four. Yes, I do remember parts of the trip. But, quite honestly, my ideal getaway would be a visit to New England. In the spring it's absolutely incomparable. Imagine the fresh sea air, the gorgeous rolling Berkshires for a backdrop, the woodland filled with tiger lily and remnants of the colonial fieldstone walls and trickling springs running down rocky hillsides.

One of my favorite pastimes was hiking. Not the lug-a-lot-of-expensive-equipment kind. I'd go in my tennis shoes and walk or climb for hours. My favorite spot was a state park called Devil's Hopyard. This place had the most amazing waterfalls, which my best friend and I loved to climb (which technically wasn't allowed - not that we cared). It also had quite a history in local folklore, which made it even more fun to explore.

Even just outside our back door the views were incredible. We had boulders between 6- and 7-feet high, lilac bushes just as tall and several miles of forest stretching out from our backyard, as well as several acres in the front across the small country road where we lived and on one side of our house all the way to our neighbors'. I used to love going outside with a book and park myself on the top of one of our boulders facing the back woods. I'd usually do more staring into the trees than reading. The views were breathtaking.

I miss that practical, no-nonsense "back East" attitude and that sarcastic (yet not caustic) New England wit. Easterners are fiercely strong-willed and tightly knit. But they are also very welcoming. They take things in stride and make real effort to get to know new neighbors.

Tourists are another thing entirely and are generally looked upon as a necessary but unwelcome evil. Well, that might be a bit crass. But New Englanders do love their privacy.

My first trip out East was the summer before we moved there from Indiana. I was sixteen and it was love at first sight. I had never seen the ocean before (well, in Florida at age four, but let's be serious) and played in the waves like a toddler in the bathtub. The locals showed off their collections of sea glass to my siblings and I... And we were enthralled.

I still miss Connecticut very much. I felt more at home there than anywhere else I've been. Ah, well... There's always the occasional vacation.