May 2008

            "Mom, did you see my 2008 calendar that Aunt Katherine gave me yesterday?"

            "No. Let me see it."

            Mom carefully picks the calendar up from the table, sits down in her green rocking chair and begins to slowly turn the pages.

            "Oh, this is beautiful!  Each page has a spectacular horse.  I'd have a very difficult time choosing the best one.

            "I know.  I tried to decide on a favorite, but finally I gave up."

            "Did you read the short paragraph on the back of the first photo?  I was so surprised when I read that they were all photographed at different places right here in Greenfield."

            "I know.  The photographer must have spent a lot of time traveling around Town to get these pictures.  I wish I could have gone with him, don't you?"

            "I sure do!  Say, I have an idea.  Let's do what the photographer did."

            "What do you mean, Mom, that we should go around Town and take pictures?"

            Mother laughed and shook her head.

            "No, no. Not that.  We don't have the photographic skill to match these photos."

            "Well, what then?"

            "Let's drive around all over Town and really take a good look at everything.  We usually go quickly from place to place as we drive around doing errands or visiting friends and we don't really pay much attention to the houses, the barns, the stone walls, the large fields, the wooded areas, the cemeteries, the small stores or some of the historic buildings.  Would you like to do that?"

            "Oh, yes!  Come on!  Let's go now!"

            "Well, let's have breakfast first.  And since today is Saturday, we have time to plan how we're going to complete our 'Seeing our Town' project."

            "OK.  How will we do it?"

            "How about choosing one of the four hamlets in Greenfield for each of the next four Saturdays?  Then we'll visit one each Saturday and really, really look at everything - big things, little things, old stuff, new stuff and also look especially for birds, butterflies, chipmunks and ay other birds and animals who live here?"

            "Great!  We'll go to Middle Grove, Greenfield Center, Porter Corners and Maple Avenue.  I'll take my notebook and write down things I want to remember.  Where will we go first?"

            "You decide."

            "I know.  Let's go in alphabetical order.  Let's go to Greenfield Center first, then to Maple Avenue, Middle Grove and finally to Porter Corners."

            "All right.  Breakfast first and then off to Greenfield Center."

            "Mom, while you make the oatmeal, I'll get the juice, the butter and make the toast."

            The rays of the sun made the silvery salt and pepper containers glisten as the warm light cam through the windows.  The knives, forks and spoon were shining too.

            "Hey, our breakfast is finished.  Come on!  Let's go."

            "All right.  I'll quickly was these few dishes, while you put the milk and the juice away.  Brush the crumbs off the table into that small wastebasket.  Sweep up any on the floor.  Push the chairs in close to the table.  The dishes are done.  Get your pencil and notebook.  We're off to Greenfield Center.  On, bring your Greenfield Glimpses, too."

            "Look, everything's here I've got my notebook and pencil and here is my Greenfield Glimpses.  I can use that to get more information about the things we see."

            "Good idea.  Greenfield Center, here we come!"

            "Look Mom, there are lots of houses here on both sides of the street."

            "Yes, this is the Main Street for Greenfield Center and it is also Stated Road 9N."

            "Hey look what I found."

            "What is it?"

            "Right here.  There's quire a bit of information about Greenfield Center."

            "I'll stop the car here so we can read the information. "

            "It says Greenfield began as a crossroad settlement on the main north and south route between Corinth and Saratoga Springs."

            "Look, it tells about an inn that was opened in 1789 so people on stage coaches could stop and eat and even stay overnight if their trip was long and they needed rest."

            "Yes, then they built a school.  Must be more people were coming here to live and then in 1812 the first church was built.  Wow! Look!  They built a plank road to go from their glass factory to Saratoga Springs.  What's a plank road, Mom?"

            "Just what it says.  It's wooden planks laid on the ground to make a road for horses and buggies and stagecoaches to use for going from place to place more easily than on dirt roads."

            "They did that in 1850."

            "See what it says below that!"

            "Gosh, in just 6 more years there were three stores and even a hotel with a barn and stables for horses and it says that Greenfield Center begins at Grange Road and goes all the way to Bockes Road.  It says to look in the architectural section for pictures of some of the beautiful, historic old homes. Oh look, Mom, look!  It says some are Federal style architecture and others show Dutch Colonial architecture."

            "Yes, I've seen some house like that.  Now, let's do this.  You study those pages and I'll drive slowly along so we can look for those houses pictured in the book and for many other things, too."

            "OK.  You drive and I'll study the book and look outside, too.  My goodness, there are so any houses pictured here and so much written about each one, I can't keep up as we are going along."

            "Yes, there are so many beautiful, old historic homes.  Greenfield is fortunate to have so many beautifully maintained houses."

            "Here's a paragraph about a house we saw last Saturday - Dr. Ianthus Johnson's house at the corner of 9N and Brigham Road, and here's a house that may have been part of the Underground Railroad.  Oh, look, here's Captain John's house where British soldiers stayed during the War of 1812.  These pictures and stories are fun to see."

            "We've been driving around for quite a while.  So.....why don't we go back to our house and you can read all those other pages in Greenfield Glimpses."

            "Good idea!  I'm getting hungry.  I can write down in my notebook what I want to remember.  Hey, here's a house where the owner thought he had found gold.  He sent samples of soil to be checked and he was told there was gold in his sand and it was worth $18.00 a ton.  Wow! We drove past that house before, but I want to see it again."

           "All right.  List it in your notebook for next Saturday."

            "Say here's a very nice house.  I really like this one a lot."

            "I do too!  Let's go in and fix a nice lunch and talk about all the beautiful, old homes we have just seen."