The Story of My Walk Up Hills Road

[Kirby]

This story begins a long time ago, when I was a little tadpole.  Each summer we'd go up to a small town in the Catskills for the summer.  It was a different time back then, and there was a "boarding house" (Hills Resort)  just up the road.  Older people from the city would come up for their vacation or for weeks in the summer.  Think Dirty Dancing but without the fun and young people.  We'd often go for a walk up the road next to Hills Resort.  It was a good road to walk because there was much less traffic than the main road through town and a little way up the road you could stop and play at a big rock in the brook.  You could play on the big rock for hours with all sorts of imaginary games - a magical place for a city kid.

Friday I heard the weather report for the weekend.  It was going to be cool and sunny, a perfect day for a walk.  This made me happy.  Suddenly I had a thought that I'd like to walk up Hills Road. This made me feel nostalgic.  But the town was 2 1/2 hours away and this made me feel sad.  But I had nothing I had to do on Saturday, so I set off for a drive.  This made me happy.

I drove to the town and parked by the post office which is the only business still open in the town.   The post office is across from the band stand where they've held weekly concerts for decades.   

The band stand is near the brook, but that's not the best place to play in the brook because it's more open and there are houses near that part of the brook.  But it still made me feel happy to see it.  Then it was time to head up Hills Road.  The place has been closed for years, which makes me sad.  But there were people working on it which made me feel optimistic.

So I started up Hills Road.  This made me feel very excited.

To be continued. . .

 

 

[Kirby]

A little way up the road I got to the Big Rock in the Brook, and it was still as magical as I remembered.  This made me very happy and nostalgic.  Then I continued up the road and came to the house by the pond.  I always loved that house because it was right near a pond so it seemed like a nice place to swim.  But the house was deserted now and the pond sort of scummy, which made me sad.  But I continued up the road and eventually came to the house with the sweeping lawn.  This house was always wondrous when I was a kid.  It had a huge lawn with dogs running around, a lovely vegetable garden and a great porch.  I'm glad to say the house was well cared for and as lovely as ever, but it's hard to see because the pine trees block the house.  Seeing this house made me feel very nostalgic.

The house with the sweeping lawn is always where we turned around walking up Hills Road, so I turned around and headed down.  I stopped at the big rock in the brook again and then headed back to my car.  My car was still parked there, which made me feel relieved.

to be continued . . . .

 

[Kirby]

So I had driven 2.5 hours for a 40 minute walk and still had time left in the afternoon.  So I drove to a town a few towns away where a number of my family members including my Dad are buried.  I visited the graves and was happy to see the flowers we'd planted earlier in the year had grown nicely.  I stopped in the little country church and said a prayer.  This made me feel very reflective.

I then drove over to another nearby town and wandered around their main street.  I picked up a raspberry coffee cake to bring back to work which made me feel very accomplished. I didn't go to Ted's for a hot turkey sandwich because it seemed sort of sad to go there alone, plus I don't usually get the hot turkey sandwich anyway.  This made me feel a little wrong, even though it also felt right.

And then it was time to go home.  Overall, I felt very pleased with my day and very glad that I walked up Hills Road again.

The End

 

 

[Kzoo]

Great read.

[Page Turner]

...thanks.  I looked at all those photos with the running water in the small creeks and the lush green lawns and it made me feel very refreshed.

The hippie house I lived in in MN had a sweeping lawn just like that one.  It was my job to ride the riding lawnmower back and forth to mow it down when it got out of hand.. that made me feel like Toad in the Wind in the Willows.

[Further]

I really like the church picture

[AirwickWithCheese]

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/115-High-St-Catskill-NY-12414/119158685_zpid/

[Kirby]

7 minutes ago, AirwickWithCheese said:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/115-High-St-Catskill-NY-12414/119158685_zpid/

That's actually about 2 hours away from Hills Road.  But you can find houses for very cheap in the area.

[AirwickWithCheese]

Just now, Kirby said:

That's actually about 2 hours away from Hills Road.  But you can find houses for very cheap in the area.

Too far then. Let's find a house.   

[Kirby]

14 minutes ago, Further said:

I really like the church picture

The view behind the Church

 

[Airehead]

What a lovely story. 

[Page Turner]

...for some odd reason, I picture @Kirby 's childhood neighborhood in the Catskills as populated by Disney's Wind in the Willows characters.

 

[MickinMD ★]

Good story. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Ralphie ★]

Man, that was long!  I'll read it tonight. :)