Life is for living.

Business, learning, travel near and far. Indigenous history intertwines with a quirky bison and questions lead to answers along the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts.

By their books you shall know them.

By their books you shall know them and yourself better.

Listen to what pulls, attracts, seeks you as you are seeking something new. Because that may lead to somewhere with someone interesting. Family outings in years past meant visiting the bison figure out front. Uh oh. It's gone this year. Things look different. Should we go in? A bench repurposed. A copper boiler. A skeleton of a horse (plastic) with a movable jaw. Yes. Open door, step inside. One shelf of the Buy the Book seen inside the place now known as Catamount Traders along the Mohawk Trail, knew this is a place worth exploring. Maps. ephemera. fishing lures in the glass case up front. Matchbox vehicles. Look overhead, underneath. The books. Met Mike Skalski, owner, who has a wry sense of humor.

This ride along the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts, a scenic route with layered history, leads to learning more yet again. Business, life, travels, military past, pilots in the family. Swapping stories of Groton, Connecticut, and Pensacola, Florida.

Three months since that July day when all changed in an instant. More than one year since an out-of-control vehicle made a split-second choice and hurtled towards a driver who also had to then make a choice to avoid a head-on collision. Then a journey alongisde someone with health challenges met with stoic determination.

“Why do you ask, you're going to do what you want anyways.”

Now he's gone. End chapter. Done. (-30-) Finis.

Pivot; turn into and face the storms of life. Yet there are stories to tell and words that flow though the process may be slower. Keep going. Life chapters close and the page turned becomes a new opportunity. Let go and let's go.

“You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.” Ray Bradbury

You were born to do more than just pay bills and die.

— Nathan Allen Pirtle (@workwthecoach) January 7, 2021

Vehicles flow north on I-91. Many may be en route to view a phenomenon that is common every autumn, taken for granted by many. Just think, though.

Nothing wasted in nature. Nothing. Energy transforms and returns in other forms. The biological mechanisms that catch and convert sunlight to energy turn vibrant colors as the vital essence in each leaf is withdrawn. Cut off, the leaf colors, then falls. A spectacle known as New England foliage, leaf peeping season that arrives before stick season and somber November.

A tree readies for cold weather and rest by shedding its leaves, even pine trees drop needles. Along with this is a rain of micro debris, always enriching the earth below with bits of life, bird and insect droppings, stuff. Wind carries seeds and more, acts as a broom to clean house, shakes branches to test weakness and rid the tree of anything loose. Time is tidal. Eat, excrete, repeat. Energy moves as food to provide motion, make work and life possible. Cash flows and acts as a beneficial manure to locally economies, small businesses, eateries, fueling stations along the way as leaf peepers are tidal entities. Visit, gain the experience, leave behind money in digital form and as cash for goods received.

Vehicles zip and dart on our shared journey north, passing an interstate chokepoint near Springfield, Mass., as all funnels through, then opens up past the city. Breathe and go. A kick of excitement, that road ahead. Grateful to be a passenger with a skilled driver at the wheel. Still recovering, but progress is being made made through trauma inflicted.

Conversation flows and the beauty of mountains, rivers, an airfield that feels like an old friend. Wind sock. Basketville is gone, but stories erupt as the former building is spotted and signs and past treks are remembered. Books. A day off from work in Hartford. Friends, family. Some gone now we carry with us because their love stays.

Equipped with masks, hand sanitizer, vaccinated and seasoned, venturing out and about. Water carried in containers, apples, pears, peanuts, wipes, Sunday newspapers. Anticipation. A window seat to gaze out and absorb the views. Along the route, backroads, byways, let's try this way. A paper straw ice coffee (perfectly brewed and mixed), McDonald's in Vermont, Route 5 intersection. This sipping device works, a different mouth feel at first, noticed. Remembered from childhood, when paper straws were routine. An EV level 1 charging sign sighted in a commuter lot. Square devices seen in the wild, a way to make accepting debit and credit cards simple for payment by a small business. One at Brattleboro Books. Another after a three-mile walk to Friends of Meriden Public Library‘s $5 a bag book sale (over for now, but sign up or stop in to be informed of their next event, browse the selection). Then a treat, vanilla ice cream perfection with a delectable blend of coconut, dark chocolate, almonds. Chomp, crunch, savor. Oh, make it last. As all is consumed, also admiring the two-scoop Bada Bing Cherry flavor cone chosen by the driver.

Displays of artisans, artists, graphics inside the handsome and well-sited Vermont Welcome Center, Guilford. An outdoor exhibit of veterans lost to suicide. Do people understand? Thinking back and forward while gazing out at the fluttering flags in the sunshine of October. Jay and his widow, holding on to photographs of their recent marriage; he was gone at 22.

Note: First story in a series. Published in progress, adding to all and editing in public. Goal is to connect people and places, business and history, add to the world and not subtract. Horses and dogs, books and walks, discoveries and travel and a soul heals and grows forward. Time is the ultimate commodity–but time cannot be bought nor sold. Health should never be taken for granted along with time, the present moment. So easy to forget.

Here you go. After a morning foraging, a feast. Years back but a great resource for those who want to learn more about fungi, edible mushrooms alongside experienced people.

So, as a vaccinated human, looking towards the booster when my time. Wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer, washing hands, working remote. Updating health records and life documents knowing life is finite as when that fact was front and center at age 18 when the U.S. Air Force required a will, family address, all vaccinations be current in the mobility check-in line. Have learned to choose to be around accomplished people who strive for excellence, show up, get things done and have a healthy pattern of life experiences. Black walnuts are fewer now, but the gathering continues. Still looking for a butternut tree; call (860) 344-0591 to share a location.

Waiting Patiently, Potters Corner, Kitty’s Light & Cap Du Nord having a splash this morning @CWilliamsRacing @jacktudor9 pic.twitter.com/4zbgVJ7Wyw

— Racing's InsideTrack (@RInsideTracktv) October 22, 2021

Oh, about that beloved bison? Coming up in part two. Also Weetamoo and stories from the road. Editor's note: This story was updated 10/30/2021.