I am staying with a cousin and her husband in Macedonia, Ohio for a few days.
I was born in a nearby town, but from the age of 10 until I went off to college I lived in the very same subdivision , in a similiar red brick house, that my cousin now lives in, here in Macedonia. I am, I'd say, back in my hometown. An interesting place to be at this point in my road trip.
It has changed quite a lot. It was pretty rural back in the days when I road my bike down the streets and played in the woods. Back then a kid could be outside all day, out of site, and no one worried about their safety. And we didn't even have cell phones to check in with! Me and my cousins knew the woods well. We knew where to find the pussy willows growing beside a pond, where to pick berries, and where the rocky ledges were where we could shimmy up a narrow crevice to the top. We knew where the hole in the fence was to allow us to get through the barrier and where the trees fell just right to facilitate hut building.
Now there is a Walmart, Target, and strip centers where the Turkey farm used to be. Open meadows have become subdivisions. Our swimming hole is no longer swimable. Just yesterday construction crews removed the railroad overpass that was a landmark in the middle of Macedonia. My old junior high school is completely gone! Lots of things are gone. I barely recognize the place.
However, nearby, the beautiful connected system of parks that make up the Emerald Necklace around Cleveland is still here. My family used to go on Sunday drives in the parks on roads that followed the Cuyahoga River Valley or the Erie canal. That was back when gas was $ .33 a gallon. The fountain in the park bordering Tinkers Creek where us little kids used to play still spouts and there are still little kids playing in it, even though a sign that says no wading or swimming still stands next to it.
My family spent a lot of time in the parks. We would cook breakfast on a camp stove, hike the trails, climb cliffs, and walk down the creek in our old tennis shoes.
I road down roads I must have ridden down a hundred times before, but I was not hit with nostalgia. Too many changes. The house I lived in has been neglected and looks kind of sad. The woods I used to play in that started where our backyard ended is gone, replaced by big homes with fancy patios. In general, everything looks smaller than in my memory. The distances between towns shorter. The winter ski slopes that I feared descending look barely high enough for a good ride.
We, Bobbie, Ken and I, traveled south a little, past Canton, and spent yesterday in Amish country. We sampled cheese at the cheese factory, and taste tested bakery at the bakery. We walked through a dozen shops selling lawn decorations and country knick knacks. We admired the farms. We saw black buggies pulled by horses and driven by women and men in traditional conservative dress. We speculated on and had questions about the lifestyle of the Amish. We stopped for a family style dinner at Der Dutchman, and ate a bountiful county dinner of salad, whole wheat rolls, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, dressing and gravy with a big slice of pie for dessert. (Banana cream, coconut cream, and oatmeal pie were our choices but the list of berry and cream pies was ridiculously long.) Afterwards we walked our over-stuffed selves back to the car for the ride home. We observed fields being plowed the old fashioned way with horse and plow. We admired the large farms and mosaic hillsides with fields of corn and wheat and beans and whatever. It was sunny, the sky blue with scattered puffy while clouds. It looked like a folk art painting complete with red barns and white silos.
As night approached we sat in their backyard and toasted marshmallows over a fire. A big strawberry moon provided enough light for us to sit leisurely until we were done.
Being in my hometown does not make me feel like I am home, but I enjoyed the respite and the memories and a taste of the good old days. Home is now 1500 miles away in Florida and I will be back there at the end of the month.
For now, I plan to stay another night, and then travel only a few miles to visit my country cousin in Chesterland, Ohio.
I was born in a nearby town, but from the age of 10 until I went off to college I lived in the very same subdivision , in a similiar red brick house, that my cousin now lives in, here in Macedonia. I am, I'd say, back in my hometown. An interesting place to be at this point in my road trip.
It has changed quite a lot. It was pretty rural back in the days when I road my bike down the streets and played in the woods. Back then a kid could be outside all day, out of site, and no one worried about their safety. And we didn't even have cell phones to check in with! Me and my cousins knew the woods well. We knew where to find the pussy willows growing beside a pond, where to pick berries, and where the rocky ledges were where we could shimmy up a narrow crevice to the top. We knew where the hole in the fence was to allow us to get through the barrier and where the trees fell just right to facilitate hut building.
Now there is a Walmart, Target, and strip centers where the Turkey farm used to be. Open meadows have become subdivisions. Our swimming hole is no longer swimable. Just yesterday construction crews removed the railroad overpass that was a landmark in the middle of Macedonia. My old junior high school is completely gone! Lots of things are gone. I barely recognize the place.
However, nearby, the beautiful connected system of parks that make up the Emerald Necklace around Cleveland is still here. My family used to go on Sunday drives in the parks on roads that followed the Cuyahoga River Valley or the Erie canal. That was back when gas was $ .33 a gallon. The fountain in the park bordering Tinkers Creek where us little kids used to play still spouts and there are still little kids playing in it, even though a sign that says no wading or swimming still stands next to it.
My family spent a lot of time in the parks. We would cook breakfast on a camp stove, hike the trails, climb cliffs, and walk down the creek in our old tennis shoes.
I road down roads I must have ridden down a hundred times before, but I was not hit with nostalgia. Too many changes. The house I lived in has been neglected and looks kind of sad. The woods I used to play in that started where our backyard ended is gone, replaced by big homes with fancy patios. In general, everything looks smaller than in my memory. The distances between towns shorter. The winter ski slopes that I feared descending look barely high enough for a good ride.
We, Bobbie, Ken and I, traveled south a little, past Canton, and spent yesterday in Amish country. We sampled cheese at the cheese factory, and taste tested bakery at the bakery. We walked through a dozen shops selling lawn decorations and country knick knacks. We admired the farms. We saw black buggies pulled by horses and driven by women and men in traditional conservative dress. We speculated on and had questions about the lifestyle of the Amish. We stopped for a family style dinner at Der Dutchman, and ate a bountiful county dinner of salad, whole wheat rolls, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, dressing and gravy with a big slice of pie for dessert. (Banana cream, coconut cream, and oatmeal pie were our choices but the list of berry and cream pies was ridiculously long.) Afterwards we walked our over-stuffed selves back to the car for the ride home. We observed fields being plowed the old fashioned way with horse and plow. We admired the large farms and mosaic hillsides with fields of corn and wheat and beans and whatever. It was sunny, the sky blue with scattered puffy while clouds. It looked like a folk art painting complete with red barns and white silos.
As night approached we sat in their backyard and toasted marshmallows over a fire. A big strawberry moon provided enough light for us to sit leisurely until we were done.
Being in my hometown does not make me feel like I am home, but I enjoyed the respite and the memories and a taste of the good old days. Home is now 1500 miles away in Florida and I will be back there at the end of the month.
For now, I plan to stay another night, and then travel only a few miles to visit my country cousin in Chesterland, Ohio.
slight delay in checking in on your travels: after a successful closing on friday, we spent the weekend moving into our new little cottage on the st lawrence river !! no more camping in our future, so we put the pop-up in the yard with a for sale sign on it. lots of amish in this area; if you don't see them in person, you do see their "horse leavings." one lady parks at the entrance to walmart in nearby watertown and sells homemade cookies and bread. miss ya, see you back in fla in a few weeks. suzi
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