you were going to read a non-vacation post.  A more current one- but I've decided against that.  Too many contradictions or at least conflictions.  Who really cares what I'm learning?  I think some things maybe shouldn't be shared.  or at least I shouldn't use this as a scapegoat- as an excuse to not deal with real life.  I'm tired of talking and analyzing and not living.  Even if living means doing uncomfortable things.  I don't know why I've been so reflective- I'll credit a friend with her honesty & this emotional keyboard music coming through the speakers and two unspokens.

Day 3, cont'd:
Let's back-track a lil.  I'd forgotten an important deviation on Friday!  Ruggle's Mine in NH.  The signs advertising came at the right time at my trip to appeal.  Mines are like caves and caves as fascinating, so why not?  It was about 4 miles off 4 uphill.  When I got there, i saw why- at the top of a mountain.  :)  It was a nice view, even if the staff there didn't think so (drizzling/low clouds).  I hope to get pics back today- so we'll see about posting some.  I was having so much fun exploring that I came back as a worker was getting his yellow rainjacket on to search for me!  I enjoyed the resonance in some of the caves.  It was fun to sing.  I also enjoy searching for minerals.  and making connections with people.  There were two people working there that day, and I chatted with them for a while.  If nothing else, I was glad that I went there that day (in part because it was closing for the season in two days!)

Have I failed to mention the random monument?  It was also in Hew Hampshire.  I drove over a bridge and found a commuter parking lot (this was east of the split with Hwy 3).  Walking back over the bridge, I saw a great little river and a mystery.  In the distance, I could see a trainbridge, but in the foreground were cement supports for a bridge, with no actual road on top connecting them!  That's what made me park in the first place.  What's with that?  Did a building budget run out?  Was it part of an older bridge that was burned or otherwise partially dismantled?  hmmm... so I walked around for a bit, hoping to find a plaque :)  but instead, I followed a path that joined up w/ the railroad and across another bridge to a pretty area that had a giant cement statue of an angel.  It commemorated the lives of those lost to a massacre hundreds of years ago.  I wonder who survived and how they were all related & thought about space, ownership, racism and life for a while afterwards.

--before continuing on, I'll jump back to Thursday.  If nothing else, I can reference for future car issues.  While parallel parking north of Boston on Thursday, a car and mine scraped.  It was the lady's fault, not my brothers.  The noise haunted me for a short while, but no one was hurt- thank God.  It looked like just a piece of plastic broke off her car and my front-left bumper is scraped.  We chatted and decided to not involve insurance.  I hope that the minor jack-hammer noise that's returned is nothing big... (it stops when the air is on).--

day 3, with pumpkins in the trunk
It was late (relatively- maybe 9:30) and dark.  I drove on small roads in MA.  Hardly ever saw another car.  Was still tired, but there were only businesses and residents along the road- no pull-offs, so I drove 'til a State Forest.  It didn't say park hours, but it didn't really seem like i should be there.  Nonetheless, I was.  I left the tent in the trunk as I didn't really want to camp by myself and napped in the car.  It was quiet and chilly and good to not drive in the dark. 

Day 4:

Four hours later, I decided it was time to continue on my journey.  In New York, I took the Taconic Parkway, and thought it was beautiful from what I could see.  The parkway did have parking areas, so I did so about 3:30 a.m. and slept better here for about 2 hours.  At that point, another car joined mine so I decided to head out (6 was when I'd planned on continuing anyway).  I drove south for about an hour and a half to a little diner for breakfast.  I wanted to chat with the locals, but could not bring myself to.  I was so far retreated into the reflective introvert, that no subject seemed appropriate or interesting.  It was nice hearing their small-town NY accents, though.  A lawn chair planted next to a mailbox up the road seemed fitting.  I could see a leisurely pace-of-life there, and imagined my mom delivering mail there instead of my hometown.  It reminded me of the importance of people & relationships.

TBC