The Great American Road Trip: Day 70

What does it feel like to you when you return to a place that used to be familiar? Do you try to visit all the places where you used to spend time? Or do you try to preserve those memories untouched and explore new places instead? Is it exciting to see how things have changed? Pleasantly nostalgic? A little sad?

Kayleigh and her mom love sleeping in on the weekends, but for some reason I find it hard to force myself to stay asleep past a certain point. I tried my best to be quiet but Jude the adorably suspicious guard dog managed to catch me making noise several times and let everyone know about my presence by barking quite loudly. Thankfully the two of them both fall back asleep easily!

I took a quick walk over to MHC to buy some postcards at the campus store, then gave in to my nostalgia by going to Glamorama in Northampton. I can't remember when I started getting my hair cut there, but while I was a student I made it a habit because I always ended up with something I liked. Well, besides the time that visiting guy gave me an asymmetric cut that looked like a rat-tail, but my neighbor with a pair of scissors fixed that right up! The atmosphere is a little punk and a little retro, with lots of bright colored walls, comfy old sofas, odd indie music, and wacky artwork hanging everywhere. The price has gone up to the point that I suspect it doesn't attract as many students, but if you want a big change they're known for their talent with coloring and cutting-edge hair styles. I left with a great haircut after an hour of chatting with my stylist Rebecka and several other patrons - tragically it's not the same red/orange/yellow combination she had done to her own hair, but maybe next time ;)

I stopped across the street for lunch at Herrell's Ice Cream. With so many dairy farms in the area, there's practically an ice cream place on every street, and several on each winding little road from town to town. Herrell's is a NoHo institution and is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year - it's known for the big stuffed bears in the front window, homemade chocolate whipped cream and hot fudge sauce, and huge list of ever-rotating flavors. When I first went there I was skeptical of "burnt sugar and butter" as an ice cream flavor, but the person behind the counter convinced me to try it and it's still my favorite flavor there. I had it with a little of the seasonal pumpkin cheesecake - a great choice!

Daisy and I had visited most of the places I'd wanted to visit around town, but I did go across the street to look in Pinch, this beautiful arts and crafts store where they sell work by local and national artists (even some things from Tucson!) - everything from jewelry to purses to ceramics to framed mixed media pieces. Tragically a bit out of my price range still - the bracelet that I wear from there was a gift - but I did have a fun time admiring the hand painted mugs with incredibly detailed hawks and owls, and the plates that had been fired with maple leaves pressed into it.

I was trying to decide if I wanted something more substantial to eat besides ice cream, and as I was driving around I remembered Mom's! I got a bit lost around Amherst trying to get there, I'd forgotten which street you turn down off of main (and chose the wrong one, of course), but with the help of Martha I found it eventually. Mom's is a Chinese take out restaurant inside of a tiny Asian market ("Now Stocked With Korean Items!" as declared by a sign in the window) - a large take out box of delicious food that could easily feed two people was only $6, making it a favorite among the local students who hear about it from friends. My sophomore year, living with Krystal and Rachel, we even tried our hand at making things like sushi and bubble tea on a regular basis because we could visit Mom's and stock up on ingredients. If you're going to eat instant ramen in college, at least here you can find some interesting flavors ;) The take out is only available after 4pm, so I ended up snacking on some roasted seaweed and a red-bean mochi on my way north to Montague.

What's in Montague, you might ask? Well, I'm not too sure, except that it's the location of the Montague Book Mill - their slogan is "Books You Don't Need In A Place You Can't Find". I saw that on bumper stickers all over campus for 4 years, and never actually visited until my last week at MHC, done with finals but still waiting for graduation :p It was quite a challenge to find, I believe Robyn and I got pretty lost, but the confusion was well worth it. This time with the GPS was much more straightforward but a little less exciting - I think I should have just tried to follow the internet directions again if only for the adventure of it. The Book Mill seems like an old farm house out in the middle of nowhere that has been packed from ground floor to attic with bookshelves and mismatched armchairs, with a part of it carved out for a cafe. They've also built a building next to it with an art gallery and a video/music store - one stop shopping! The books/music/movies are almost all used, so the prices are pretty good, and the experience of just wandering and seeing what they happen to have is what makes it worth driving 40 minutes to get to. Most of the armchairs were occupied with people with books and laptops, so I settled in the cafe (with a delicious mug of a pu-erh ginger tea) and wrote some emails, smiling at the buzz of conversations and the tempting smells wafting from the kitchen behind me.

It was getting dark so I packed up and headed home to South Hadley. Kayleigh and I went out to dinner at Johnny's, splitting the huge nacho "appetizer" and a salad. We happily talked non-stop for several hours, probably to the amusement of our dining neighbors who occasionally smiled at our laughter. It's such a treat for me when I get to sit down and really share with a friend like that - I'm glad I have people in my life where we can be so honest and open with each other. For a day of nostalgia, it was nice to end it on a note that felt like taking old memories and building new ones onto them.

The big copper beech outside the library

The bears in the glare

Yum!

"An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break. May you be open to each thread that comes into your life - the golden ones and the coarse ones - and may you weave them into a brilliant and beautiful life"

Something at Pinch that caught my eye