We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. — T. S. Eliot
We’ve been away. But as the mornings are getting chillier and the afternoons shorter, Tim and I are starting to settle in to our new (old) life here in Salem, Massachusetts.
First fire, 9/17/2013
Tim takes the morning shift with the dog. Maxine likes a good long walk first thing, and Salem provides that opportunity, because Tim generally runs into 5 – 10 people who want to welcome him back and tell him what’s been going on. And if you know Tim, you know he’s a talker, too. I go out around 5:00, or whenever Maxine tells me it’s time, and the same kind of thing happens. We feel part of a community here, and I believe that on some level, that’s what we all long for.
The Halloween vibe is just starting and will be in full swing in about 10 days. Crunchy leaves hit the brick sidewalks and crackle underfoot. Maxine discovers new smells all the time. There’s a steady stream of visitors at the Pickering House and our friends are lining themselves up for fall and winter visits. Life is good.
We left Salem in 2005 to get away from some recent harsh winters that
Maxine & Tim, off on an early morning walk last winter
were doing my arthritis no good. Plus, I am one of a growing percentage of people who had a very bad reaction to a drug I was taking for osteoporosis, the upshot of which is that I could no longer live in our wonderful 1735-era home with its steep stairs and third floor living quarters. Virginia was our rescue — we had family there and our jobs are not geography dependent. We’re not sorry we did it — we made some life-long friends in Richmond — but being away made us appreciate Salem that much more.
We realized that this is home, even though we are both native New Yorkers. This is home, even though we often feel “at home” in other places around the world. And this is home because this is where we put down roots in 1995 which have proven too strong to sever.
The Pickering House (c) mystuart
We are very much looking forward to the October madness, an authentic New England Thanksgiving, the lovely Christmas House Tour (which we’ve already been recruited to work on) and even the first snowfall, which we will dutifully record here in the house as they have done for years.
So, yes, to everybody who asks: we are settlin’ in. And now it is time to take our first steps away from all we’ve been doing since early July. We are off to Utah to visit Tim’s sister and perhaps even make a pilgrimage to our first National Park — Yellowstone — if there isn’t too much snow to drive through. We might even steal us a couple of pic-i-nic baskets, Boo-Boo.
Buon viaggio!
Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…
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