Saturday, November 19, 2011

Sometimes I travel with a pack of writers from Los Angeles. For some reason many of the people in our business live there, or in SF, and for them, well, they don’t really get what it’s like to live as a New Englander. Here are just a few of them…

*The satisfying feeling of a trip home from the dump, having gotten rid of the trash and recycling yourself, putting it all in the right bins and the back of the truck is now empty, and that junk pile in your garage is getting smaller and smaller. Putting stuff to the curb just isn’t as satisfying as a trip to a New England town dump.

*Looking at a shed full of split wood. Today we are using a borrowed wood splitter and creating a huge pile. To a New Englander, there is really nothing better than seeing all of that good dry wood, and even a second supply of green wood for next year, being split and put away is very satisfying. People who don’t burn wood here miss out too, but in LA, they don’t even have a clue about how great such a big supply makes us feel.

*Living in a condo and knowing that someone else will come plow your driveway is another great feeling. Now, I don’t get to have this feeling, but I bet it’s great for my neighbors who no longer live in single family houses.

*The sensational comfort of having a garage where your cars can go when it’s sleeting, hailing or snowing. Just looking out at all of the white and thinking, my truck and my car are both dry, covered and no matter how hard that snow mixed with rain comes down, I won’t have to scrape it off.

These are the things that make New England wonderful.