Good rides this passed week, some longer ones over the Memorial Day weekend, a 41 miler and a 33 miler exploring up toward Princeton and Paxton having examined the maps closely in advance. Some really beautiful stretches of country road - Prescott St. into Hillside Rd in Paxton fantastic, Hillside Rd in particular a narrow, shaded, byway that at times seemed like it would peter out altogether into dirt and forest, but didn't; and also Ball Hill, Princeton, and Jefferson roads coming down from the northern reaches of Princeton, long sloping farm roads descending to Holden.
I've noticed that something felt a little different these last few rides and it finally occurred to me what it was - because all the trees and shrubs have their foliage now, the landscape is no longer visible, the long vistas into the rocky & stone-walled countryside have been replaced with thicket. The narrow country roads are now dense and overhung with greenery, so much so that I began to have vague feelings of claustrophobia. Nothing alarming, just a sense of being encroached upon, a sort of green enveloping.
I realize that I miss the bare landscape, I miss being able to see far into the forest from the road, miss seeing the contours of the countryside, the hills and slopes, the big rocks left behind by glaciers. Now, with the full emergence of leaf cover, the landscape pulses with a trembling green, a fluttery tangle of photosynthesizing leaf cover.
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| The encroaching green |
Of course, the farmland now hums and radiates, the fields verdant and the blue sky yawning vast above. Farm roads, like short duration oasis, like coming up for air before plunging back into the tangle and shadow.
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| Mason Rd |
Visuals from the week of May 18-24.
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| May 23, 2015 |
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Holden Reservoir monster
(Look carefully) |
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| Princeton St |
And a couple of shots of Bancroft Tower.
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| May 19, 2015 |
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| May 23, 2015 |
The days haven't all been warm and nice, however. In the midst of this run there were two days where long sleeves were involved. One day the temps were barely in the 50s and it was breezy, I had to done under armor and full-fingered gloves.
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| Chilly style |
That is a log or a shoal not a seamonster. You be wracking up prodigious mileage Shadman, and discovering some lovely routes, the New England that I dream of. You know Massachusetts has a big sky - you've caught it regularly in your photos. Don't need to go to Idaho or Wyoming or whereever. That sky is big.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the comments at VC. Congratulations to Nic on her achievement, keep me posted on further developments. SCrod