Just Around The Bend
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 09:54AM 
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved to "just go for a ride". See what we might find. Back then, rides were not easy to come by as most of my family did not have a car. When one of my aunt's came, or when my Dad was home on his leave from the Army...we would sometimes take a Sunday drive. I loved those days, especially if we stopped for ice cream on the way home.
I still love taking those drives...and one of the things that I do, and I would bet many of you also do, is dream about the inside of certain houses that I pass...like the one above. Lace curtains, front porches, pretty lights and flowers and also I get a sense that inside "that" house it is warm, cozy and filled with wonderful smells and a sense of peace. Perhaps someone is sitting in a big, wrap around chair by a fire, reading a lovely book, with that perfect cup of tea in a china cup. Now I'm not sure why certain houses stir those kinds of memories but they just do.
This is Route 100 in Vermont...it is one of the most picturesque roads in New England. Sweet, gently winding roads full of farms,cows and horses in the fields, road side stands and country stores. I love this old country road. The houses on it evokes memories of days gone by..like something you would see in a Norman Rockwell painting..fall is particularly beautiful in Vermont...this house, right on the bend in the road, with the light and deep shadows and just the perfect amount of reds, orange and yellows took me back to what I think were gentler times. Those upstairs windows stirred some deep memory and I would have like to have visited.
I love Sunday rides, any day of the week. Just to go and see what happens. When my kids were little and now with the boys...I would always tell them we were going on an adventure and they think that is really cool...so now, before the snow flies and it gets to cold, take yourself on an adventure, stir up some warm hearted memories and when you do, record them either in your camera or in your heart.
I should also remind you that in the winter, after a fresh falling snow, close to Christmas, ride by a few houses at dusk...and think about what's going on it there... lights in windows, trees dancing with ornaments, chestnuts roasting on a open fire, Christmas carols playing softly in the background...and babies dreaming of sugar plums..
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Reader Comments (12)
Ok, Cheryl, I'm diving out to Maine, and taking some Sunday car rides with you!! You don't know how many Sunday drives my mom took us girls on. She loved to do the same thing as you described. We'd drive in the country, past farm houses, or in our little town where the up-scale people lived, and I would do so much imagining about the inside of those houses, and the people. Christmas time was the most fun with all the outside decorations. But the very best house was right across the street from us, where a doctor and family lived. The house had a huge "picture" window. Every Christmas eve all the family would gather for an evening...putting up the tree, using a ladder to decorate it, light it all up, then have a lovely Christmas eve meal together. We used to peek from behind our living room curtains and watch the activity...it was a magical time. The youngest daughter is a FB friend and I recently told her about how we always loved watching their family. I love seeing from the road, warm glowing lights from a distant house, or within our cottage neighborhood. Even here, I imagine what is happening inside. Sorry for the long comment....see what you did to me?! Took me off into an imaginative place! xoxo Beautiful as always, and only you can do.
What a beautiful image with such sweet memories from your sunday drives.
Such a beautiful image and a lovely post - it reminds me of our family drives so much. In the summer we would drive around looking at huge old mansions build a century earlier, and in the winter we would drive around looking at houses decorated for the holidays. I love the pretty white house in your image - looks so cosy and such a beautiful place to live.
I should have know this was in Vermont ... it's just beautiful. The lovely cottage, the brilliant autumn color. Yes, I often wonder what's inside homes. And 'Sunday drives' are a good way to find photo ops!
Oh yes, I love to go for a ride. I grew up in a very small town where there wasn't much to do. We often took rides after dinner to pass the time, just admiring the sunset or watching the waves on the shore or peeking inside the warmly lit windows from the car. Those car rides are something I've never outgrown - the need to take to rural routes and soak in the peacefulness and the humanity of our world.
I loved Sunday drives they were the highlight of the week. My great aunt Viola use to take me out and we would go explore together. Usually once a month the whole family would go on a picnic and outing. I always imagine the inside of people's houses and I love to look in their windows especially as night settles.
One of the areas I really have not explored is Vermont. We've been to Quechee and that area but that's about it. I think perhaps we'll have to do some more exploring.
Visitng my parents in September, I got to accompany them on their Sunday drive. Fall colors were at their height that weekend. What a treat! Even though I grew up in that area, and thought I knew it well, they showed me lots of back roads I never knew existed. It was a treat to spend the time with them ...
Oh yes, this is one of my very favorite thing to do! I always like to imagine what certain homes look like inside..especially at dusk when the warm lights start shining through the windows. Love the sweet little house in your image, surrounded by all that autumn color, I bet it's cozy inside!
New England byways are so beautiful you can take your time and meander.. What a charming house, I can see it through yor eyes.
Beaitiful. Yes, a ride to nowhere in particular to have an adventure and see the unexpected.
I'm smiling after reading all the comments above! I especially love driving slowly by houses at night with just enough time to peek in the windows if the shades have not been drawn! I can only remember scenes of people sitting around dining tables, so I've often wished I could just ring their doorbells and invite myself in for a nibble and conversation!
Always love your dialogue and the way you invite people into your own stories!
Home is where the heart is . . . for sure . . .
Love all around . . .