Our year of living dangerously continues

Amherst is located in Western Massachusetts, which is known for the close proximity of five well 

regarded colleges: Amherst College, Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College, Hampshire College  

and the flagship of the state university system U Mass, Amherst.  U Mask, Amherst?

Usually there would be thousands of students in the area but each school has significantly

scaled back or basically gone fully Zoom for pandemic academics.  Amherst feels like a sleepy 

college town with the iconic brew-pub (temporarily closed), art-house cinema (temporarily closed),

quirky restaurant-Judie's popovers (temporarily closed), artisanal ice cream shop (permanently 

closed), university museums https://www.carlemuseum.org (temporarily closed)  and 14 Asian 

restaurants within a 3 block radius. We have no idea if it really is sleepy or if it is just because there 

are essentially no students here yet. Can't imagine what it will be like when the 27,000 students 

return (who knows when).  Not sure if we are consistent with the town slogan yet, but we have no idea what it means. 

A month ago, it was uncertain what was going to happen with the return of the students.  Even 

with that uncertainty, housing is limited and expensive in Amherst and very hard to find anything 

without a year's lease.  From Oregon, we briefly FaceTimed with a potential landlord, felt

former-Californian connection and basically jumped in blind. We rarely learn from our past 

experiences, we did buy our house in Eugene from the internet.  

So our basement "garden studio", is located in a corner of a basement of a house (promising path to our 

entrance)

Immediately outside our room door, which doesn't fully close, are the stairs to the rest of the house.

Our room came with a futon and a college-dorm-style mini fridge. Patricia thought it was 

fine except for the bed and fridge, which is all it had. 

No kitchen, there is a sink but it is on the other side of the basement, next to the bathroom.   

We get there by traversing your typical basement décor of dust,  spiders, unidentifiable bugs that 

may or may not bite, boxes, dusty unwanted furniture, forgotten tools, paint cans, rugs, mattresses, water 

heater, roll of left over insulation, fuse box, an extremely large oil heating tank and  fireplace accessories. 

As with all traditional New England houses the washer and dryer are in the basement and for us, 

they are right outside our bathroom. Everyone upstairs comes downstairs to do their laundry. 

So we mask up to go wash ourselves or our dishes.  It's all rather awkward, even for us. 

We have called upon our experiences; our own and daughters' time in college combined with our

Eastern European Air BnB stays to create our home.  Added madras-like bedspreads on the wall, 

a microwave, electric teapot  updated the dorm fridge (they now come with separate freezer!) 

and an insta-pot (we are trying to learn new things).    

So we plugged in the yogurt maker and tortilla press and it now feels (almost) like home. Our hovel. Our buried treasure.

Didn't think we would ever long for some of our more challenging accommodations in Europe,

but this basement has been able to do so. The ambience is further enhanced by the 24 hour background 

buzz of three fans, an air purifier and a de-humidfier (which almost drowns out the cicada) as they fight 

and lose the daily battle against the heat and humidity. .

The air is so thick, it feels like you are covered with double stick tape collecting sweat and bugs, 

bugs significantly larger then our west coast ones.  The ants are the size of dachshunds and the 

sow bugs are clad in Viking armor. 

The humidity also boosts the growth of trees, vines and grass and this verdant growth would be  

be really beautiful if the fear of ticks and Lyme disease had not redefined our definition of an 

attractive landscape.We look forward to  summer storms to ease the heat and have been 

rewarded with one tropical storm and two tornado warnings. 

Fortunately, we did not need to run to the basement since that is where we are living. 

Eastern Standard Time is not just a terrible weather time zone, it is terrible for the start of baseball

games and catching up on news.  We have a new respect for anyone who has lived on the 

East Coast. 

Our days, though, are full and make us happy to be here.  

                 

           

We have made a lot of day trips to the Target and Whole Foods parking lots for curbside pick-ups,

and have explored a new Trader Joe's (consistently handling COVID well).  We’ve walked past the 

Emily Dickinson house, and her grave, both of which are the crown tourist jewels of Amherst.  

We learned about the town's rich history through the mural at Emily's cemetery.

We sat with Emily and Robert Frost (another long time resident). 

We strolled through many neighborhoods, one consistent with the town's emphasis on poetry (not just Emily and Robert but 

Edward Field author of Winken, Blinken and Nod was another Amherstian). 

We walked through the historic neighborhood of Holyoke (birthplace of volleyball), but missed the

canals there (we missed Italy and Venice canals too)  There was a trip to the DMV (called RMV here for Registry 

of Motor Vehicles) in Springfield (birthplace of basketball) for Alivia to renew her license plus a stop and see 

dinosaur footprints.

 

We went to a Covid drive-by quilt show in cute Easthampton, or maybe it was laundry day. 

A trip along a little river (why does everyone pile rocks in the universal Girl Scout sign for 

danger?) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/rock-stone-stacking-hiking-cairns/2020/08/27/3059a9c8-e70d-11ea-970a-64c73a1c2392_story.html?hpid=hp_travel-right-4-0_travel-latest-feed%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans,

led to Puffer Pond.

We have seen groundhogs (unfortunately one ate all our unripe tomatoes), chipmunks, bunnies, 

squirrels, a ton of really beautiful birds. No bears yet but others have reported sightings in town. 

What's next? More sweating and waiting until we can complain about the cold.  

We are effectively trapped in Massachusetts. Canada is closed. With our Oregon car plates, surrounding 

states are off limits. So we are (desperately) pretending that we are in Europe still as this old town, first 

documented in 1658 and incorporated in 1759, shares many characteristics with some of our 

favorite places in Europe. 

The classic town hall with clock tower

Old quirky cemeteries located  in the center of town, 

and in parking lots.

A  busy town square, not as picturesque as a German "Platz", but consistent with the Yiddish  "plotz" which makes

sense as the Yiddish Book Center is located here https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org

Churches with beautiful stained windows,  punctuate the sunset 

But reality sets in.  Tornado warnings, tropical storms, toll roads, Target pick ups, terrible time zone, no right turns 

on red, thousands of college students potentially ready to descend on the town constantly remind us that

we are here in New England, USA. 

. 

 

Driving to the End of the Rainbow

A rocky start, to our next fugue. 

Our original plan was to replicate our European fugue either in South America or Europe again, so much to still see https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2020/06/we-will-always-have-frankfurt.html . We still rented out our house with the goal to begin a year-long meandering trek through the US/Canada to meet up with our daughter /son-in-law/granddaughter who were relocating to Amherst, MA from Saarbrücken, Germany.  

Unfortunately, we are living in (hopefully the last vestiges of) a Trump America where nothing is normal. Plans just can’t exist. Sur-reality has taken over.

For the returning ex-pats, it was a good-bye to a great German preschool (holding a bag of sand from the sand-box) and low Covid rates  (a final maskless walk around her block)

and hello to long flight with inconsistent masked passengers, although the 3 year old had it right. And, a dog in need of a tree.

 

So, in June, we successfully rented out our house, put everything we owned in our converted garage, 

bought a car, loaded the car with everything else for daughters 1 and 3,

locked the door and left Eugene, Oregon- although a week later than planned.

The road trip dictated that the wine bag hold bleach and wipes and no stopping for food or drink.  

Unfortunately we did not head to the majestic vistas of Glacier National Park and Yellowstone as hoped, but to the Best Western in Salem OR.  Fortunately, since our goal was to spend the year traveling and seeing America, our first stop essentially was Anywhere, USA. 

From our hotel window, we could gaze at the Costco across the street and the Denny’s in our shared parking lot. A little more than a stone’s throw but still within walking distance was a Walmart, we did the walk to get oak-barrel vanilla Talente gelato-one can pretend they are elsewhere eating gelato.   After a vigorous Chlorox-wipe down of every surface in the hotel and replacing the hotel sheets with our own, we were ready for our first meal of the American Adventure: a tin of red chile flavored smoked oysters for dinner with goat cheese plus zucchini, snap peas and basil from our left-behind garden.   

And that Denny’s, for seven mornings, armed with a mask, shield and hotel vouchers,

we crossed the parking lot to pick up our breakfast. The cashier was shocked that we were willing to pay an extra dollar for take out rather than eat in with a diner full of unmasked patrons. 

Despite the (lack of ) attraction of a Best Western-Denny’s-Costco-Walmart ; why were we in Salem? With no previous history, a kidney stone attack in mid-June took Nick down. A work up revealed 4 stones (Mick, Charlie, Keith and Ronnie) that needed to be removed. This  was worrisome since Nick only weighs 10 stones.  Laser treatment was performed 7/1 to end the Stones one city tour, but an additional 9 days were required for post op care and stent removal.  This must be the place? Salem Hospital Surgery Department. Good to see everyone got the memo on pre-op dress code.

Since we had already rented out our house, we needed a place to wait out the stones, so we split our time between  Salem and  Portland-Hillsboro. Portland-Hillsboro also had it's lack of charm, this time the hotel was set in an business park, a stone's throw from every chain store in America but Oregon did send us off in style

Finally, on 7/10, we hit the road.  Trying to make up for lost time and concern of exposure, we barreled through Oregon, Washington, Idaho and 1/2 of  Montana, making it to Butte for the first night. 

We finished crossing Montana, to spend the second night in Jamestown, ND, birthplace of Nick’s father. Like all of ND, it was remote and sparsely populated. It’s understandable that his father never went back after leaving for college.  But again, we were graced with a very nice send-off (note tiny rainbow just under the cloud to the side of the sign). 

But Montana and North Dakota, were both quite beautiful from the highway. 

Montana:

North Dakota:

Based on our amateur sky observations we determined that North Dakota’s sky was almost as big if not equivalent to boastful Montana’s sky. As we passed towns with known names (Missoula, Billings, Butte, Bismarck) it was a bit remarkable how small they all were, and yet they all seemed to have a Walmart and a Denny’s.

We also began our train spotting as we entered Montana and we were really struck by the number of long trains in each state as we sailed across the country to Amherst. 

We rolled into Minneapolis  for 3 days to visit our youngest daughter Simona for a very enjoyable tour-break.  Our stay here was in the guest room of Simona’s building- an iconic Co-op apartment building (she rents) built in 1930 to be the fanciest apartment building in Minneapolis. It felt like a combination Del Coronado + Fountaingrove Lodge https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2019/10/living-lodge.html tempered with the faded glory of Sunset Boulevard (movie not street).

     

She was very pleased with her recent move here especially nice as she has rarely been able to leave her apartment since she moved in on the first night of lockdown. 

The Twin Cities is in a major state of flux and recovery.  Driving around the protest signs were uplifting and encouraging for change, yet the empty and boarded up buildings a reminder of how much needs to be done. 

Yet again, we were given a stellar send off, this time from outside of Simona's kitchen window

After the Twin Cities, we did a marathon 14 hour drive to Erie, PA  trying to quickly get through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana,Ohio and Pennsylvania (just a sliver), with their confusing toll roads. As Californians,  we were raised on freeways and not used to toll roads/turnpikes. Considerable amount of high anxiety resulting from toll booth confusion and a sense of imprisonment with the toll road guard towers, well maybe they were actually tollbooths, at each exit. We raked up $43 in tolls while we were road-trapped.  Although the toll roads seem to skirt the cities, we did manage a brief side glimpse of Cleveland and the baseball stadium (Progressive Field). 

An overnight stop in a rural NY oasis to visit Patricia’s sister + brother-in-law and enjoy a room that did not need to be Chlorox-wiped/stripped down plus a meal which included greens from the garden and grilled haloumi- a better reminder of past travels then the ice cream at Walmart.  It is a pretty idyllic spot. 

     

Our only tourist stop on the journey was Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes area. https://parks.ny.gov/parks/142/ A crazy naturally sculpted sandstone and limestone gorge, like a combination of Frank Lloyd Wright, Disneyland’s Swiss Family Robinson and Nirvana (the state of mind not the band, or both because it wasn't really hard rock). 

   

Unfortunately, it was tainted by crowds which included many unmasked people, despite signs stating masks required and presence of park rangers (although they did not seem to be enforcing). It felt like a big open bar, so we moved quickly.

After 10 to 14 hour drives, the last day's 3.5 hour sprint to Amherst went quickly.  More trains, more tollbooths, then Massachusetts and more tollbooths.

 

We drove up to our daughter's house, the end of the rainbow, dropped our remaining cargo  for them in their driveway and then drove off to wait for their 14 day quarantine to end.