So Tuesday dawned again hot as New England goes through its
own mini-drought.
We started our day with a short drive over to Leeds, the
headquarters of Chartpak, Pelikan’s US distributor. I have known Abigail Weeks,
the pen repair technician there for about a decade and we have exchanged more
than a few e-mails and calls over that time but never met. That was taken care
of today. While Sharon sat patiently, Abi and I exchanged news, views, tips and
tricks before heading back into NoHo (as it is known) for lunch. It was a treat
getting to know Abi in the way that one can face to face over lunch more than
in calls and e-mails.
After Abi dropped us off back at our motel, Sharon and I
headed over to Amherst to visit the home of perhaps the greatest (or most
obscure) American poet, Emily Dickenson. Unfortunately we read the guidebook
incorrectly and the house was closed on a Tuesday in off-season, but we got to
roam the grounds and ran into a helpful staffer who gave us a quite nice outside
tour of the house.
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| Dickenson lived here as girl and woman. Most of her writing was done in the room at the right top corner |
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| Emily Dickenson's 328. Who knew? |
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| Austin Dickenson's house next door, Evergreen |
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| Robin |
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| Across the street |
From there we went back to Northampton. Earlier in the day
we noted that we seem to have shorted this charming town with a notable college
(Smith) and a vibrant downtown. So we wandered, shopped and took pictures and
then took the now familiar walk onto Old South Street, to (Steve) Herrell’s for
our third and final ice cream dinner.
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| This wonderful piece of architecture is the Northampton Town Hall. Lacking a better description I have labeled it Saracen Revival, but Historic Northampton calls it Gothic/Tudor Revival. I'll stick with my description |
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| A more restrained block |
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| First Church |
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| Wonderful Richardsonian Courthouse undergoing renovation |
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| Look closely at the tablet under the cornice to see the Northampton Savings Bank adapted to Urban Outfitters. This reuse says something about our culture. From middle class capitalist thrift to end-stage capitalist conspicuous consumption?? |
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| Speaking of consumption |
Wednesday we head off to Portland, ME as we move toward the
final, Canadian, stage of this trip.
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