The Barn Collective and Pancakes Too

It was time to change the clocks back an hour. To celebrate this momentous occasion I stayed overnight with my sister Priscilla. We rose before the crack of dawn and set off in the dark for Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn in Angelica, NY. There was already a line to get inside but it wasn't extraordinarily long. We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast of eggs, buckwheat pancakes with real maple syrup, and coffee (which we sweetened with maple syrup too). 

It is quite literally impossible for either my sister or me to leave the Angelica area without driving through town, around Park Circle, and past the house where Great grandma Shafer lived with Uncle Leo. 

Angelica and the surrounding towns, once dotted with small, working farms like those of my great grandparents and great uncles, the area is now home to a rather robust community of Amish families. We passed several buggies with families on their way to Meeting. We waved at each other as we drove past. I saw them smile and I was smiling too.

I left my camera back at Priscilla's house (thought of it on our way through the darkness) so I took a few pictures with my phone instead. It's a handy backup when I don't have the real thing along.

I'm joining you today, Tom.

Looking Over My Shoulder

Park Circle... When we finally reached the road that circled the park in the center of town, the long ride to Great Grandma and Uncle Leo's house had come to an end.

I often look backward in time and linger in the days of my childhood, days like those when we would pile into the car and drive to Angelica, NY to visit Great Grandma at her big old house on Main St.

Technically the house belonged to Uncle Leo but I always thought of it as Grandma's house. She lived with Uncle Leo, had an orange cat named Timothy, and a pen full of chickens  next to the garage. The was a cozy wood stove in her dining room and we would gather round the table there and the grown ups would talk. There wasn't much for three shy little girls to do but there was lots to look at; Great Grandpa's old autograph book, photos on the wall, and a china cabinet packed with knickknacks. One day we went outside to play in the leaves fallen from the tall old trees that lined the street. 

It's been almost 40 years since Great Grandma passed away. A part of me wonders at the little girl who was so shy and timid that she assumed her great grandmother hardly noticed her existence. I often wish I'd been braver and gotten to know the woman who quite obviously enjoyed our presence but never pushed herself on us. I miss her now and often find myself longing to climb into the car with Mom and Dad just one more time for another long drive just past the circle in the center of town to the big white house on Main Street.