ABC WanderLust: Destination #2: Ashfield, MA (part 1)

Friday was quite a day.

At 10 in the morning I went to give some final data to my old supervisor, who's been traveling this past semester. I was feeling really uncertain about what I had before I went in, but it turned out fine. Apparently he bought gifts, during his travels, for everyone who worked in the lab. I got a pretty green, decorative scarf, from Italy with butterflies on it :) Also! He gave me a job. He asked what I was doing for the summer and I said not much since my original job possibility fell through, so he asked if I wanted to work. I was thinking he meant feeding the flies (it's a lab where people study fly physiology, just to clear things up) and helping wash dishes, but he actually gave me another research project to work on. So, yay! Income! And bugs! Woohoo!

After that I was in a pretty awesome mood and decided I was having too good a day to just sit at home, and started looking up directions to Ashfield, so I could have another travel day. I found a little store on Main Street and figured I'd start there. I also noticed there's two parks in the town where you can bring dogs, so I think I'm going to end up doing a second Ashfield trip with Oliver :)

Anyway, preparation time. I got directions, made sure I had photo-room in my phone, and made another playlist, of course.

Ashfield playlist:

1) Long Legs- The Magic Numbers
2) Livin' Thing- Electric Light Orchestra
3) Point/Counterpoint- Streetlight Manifesto
4) Werewolf- Michael Hurley
5) Dreaming- Blondie
6) The Right Profile- The Clash
7) Commotion- Creedence Clearwater Revival
8) Holiday in Cambodia- Dead Kennedys
9) Can't Get Used To Losing You- The (English) Beat
10) Window- Fiona Apple
11) I Ran- A Flock of Seagulls
12) Beggar Man- Gaelic Storm
13) No Time- The Guess Who
14) Shut Up- Madness
15) Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)- Noisettes
16) Can't See (Useless)- Oingo Boingo
17) What To Do- Ok Go
18) The World Is New- Save Ferris

The Trip.

Let me start by saying there are few experiences more peaceful and exciting than driving around western Massachusetts. It's such a beautiful area and yesterday was slightly damp, so everything was rich and green and the air felt very clean. I would have been happy just driving all day.

When I first got to Ashfield I drove down main street for a few minutes, just to get a feel for the town. It's a cute little country place, where every building looks like a house and the parking lots are smaller than my driveway. I passed a small gas station and a convenience store called Neighbors. There was a hardware store and a library and a little garden shop... all of which looked like all the other houses on the street, except for the little wooden signs nailed above the doors.

The first place I stopped was a general store called Elmer's. It was advertised as a grocery store, restaurant, and liquor store. There was nobody inside when I went in, except for one girl behind the counter. There was a basket of fresh baked bread in front, which I found out later is delivered daily by a woman on a bike. Each shelf had somewhere between 2 and 6 of each product and there were no brand names anywhere. It was definitely an organic food sort of place and there was a little room dedicated to local crafts, as well. There were tables along the wall and a few outside, as well as an extra little room with even more tables and chairs for the occasions that the store became a restaurant. The "liquor" portion was 6 or 7 bottles of Berkshire Brewing Company beer in the back of a little fridge and if you bought any, you had to drink it there. I got a River Ale and a little container with a buffalo chicken sandwich and some veggies with dip, and sat down at one of the little tables for lunch.

It was fun watching the people. A woman kept coming from the back with hedge clippers and a watering can to take care of the little bush in front of the store. I watched a crazy guy with an old dog stop and chat with her and there was another guy walking around with a little chihuahua just following him around. I listened to the girl behind the counter chat with customers and found out there was a place called the Lake House that sometimes had loud music. I talked to her a bit and found out it was a bar, the only one in Ashfield, apparently. I asked her if it was safe and she said yes, so I figured later on I'd have to stop over and check it out. I tried to text my roommates to see if they wanted to join me, but I couldn't get service, so the girl at counter (Stephanie, was her name) let me use the store phone. She was so nice. Everyone there was so nice.

After that I decided to just leave my car and walk up and down the street a bit. First I tried to go into the library and found out it's only open a couple days a week (yesterday wasn't one of those days). Then I walked down the street to the hardware store (which, I believe, was called the Ashfield Hardware Store). When I walked in there was a girl chilling on a little chair playing video games on the computer. My guess is she was the daughter or something of the woman working there. Anyway, I walked around for a bit and the woman asked if I needed anything. Since I wanted to talk to her and didn't want to waste time I got a couple bracelets for my mom and sister, a mini screw driver, and some screen so I can make little cages. It was all very cheap and she was nice. I asked if she knew of any places with cell phone service and she said not in Ashfield, but that I was welcome to use the store phone. I was happy. Everyone in that town was very nice.

I walked around a little more, just looking at houses and things and eventually made my way back to Elmer's, where I saw something that instantly made me think of my friend, so I bought it as an early birthday present then hopped in the car and drove to the outskirts of town to call my mom before she left for work. After that I headed to the Lake House.

It was a cute little bar with a pool table, a few tables and chairs, and the bar. I think it was a restaurant too, cause some lady brought kids in. Unless they just don't care. It was right outside a lake with a dock and some ducks and waiting to be fed. It was a really pretty area. Most people inside looked to be older couples, maybe in their 50's and 60's. Then there was one young couple at the end of the bar and the bar tender was a middle aged woman who seemed to know most of the customers. She was nice.

I had a beer and some ice water and just sat listening to people around me talk and once in a while adding my two cents to the bar tender's conversation. I ended up ordering a taste of merlot later. I know that sounds strange, but I mentioned that someone else's wine looked good and the bar tender asked if I wanted one, so I asked for just a taste. She gave me what was probably about a spoon full in a wine glass that looked like it was made for dolls. She also gave me a second glass of water. When I finished that I paid and went outside.

I walked around by the beach a little and watched the ducks and geese. Some of the more daring babies started wandering toward me, but then the angry mom goose hissed at me and they went back to her. I was hoping one would get close enough for me to reach out and pat. I think I'll always be eight-years-old when it comes to baby birds. Anyway, I took a couple pictures of the geese and the area. It's very pretty. Since I'd like to go back some day with my dog I might bring a bathing suit and go swimming, too. That is, of course, if everyone in the small town doesn't remember me for what happened next.

On my way out of the parking lot which, let me explain that the area where I was parked was on a small hill and very skinny, I started to turn and angle the car down the hill making sure I didn't see any cars behind me. Well, there were no cars, just an angry dumpster. I heard a sound and glanced back and saw just the top of the bar that sticks out. Somehow, with that quick glance, I failed to realize what had actually happened until I was pulling forward and saw a guy with an "oh shit" look on his face. That's when I heard the tinkling sound and turned around to see that the angry dumpster had actually punched through my back window and almost all of the glass was gone. The few chunks that were still managing to hold on were, bit by bit, flopping over into the back of the car.

I'm sure my face was 10 shades of red and purple at that point. I drove out of the town to the nearest area that had cell phone service to call my mom and let her know what had happened. She was fairly relaxed about it. I, on the other hand, started sobbing like the kid that broke grandma's favorite vase, furthering my embarrassment. I don't know why a broken window got me so upset, but I've never crashed a car in my life (save a broken mirror when I was a teenager) so maybe it was the uncertainty of the situation. Still, considering how much I used to race when I was younger (I haven't done that in years, I promise) and how impatient I can sometimes be, I'd say that's not too bad, overall. Anyway, I must have looked pretty ridiculous at this point with my broken window pulled to the side of the road balling my eyes out, because at least three people stopped to ask if I was okay. One person even offered to help me make up a story about someone breaking into the car to tell the insurance. The people in that area are so nice.

So, after that I took a 40 minute drive of shame back to my apartment. I started the day with a surprise job and ended with a broken window. It was quite a day. Here are some pictures (none of the window, sadly):