Head for the Hills

I can always tell when I have been in a city for too long. It happened to me in Barcelona in 2012, in London this summer, and in Boston a few days ago. It isn’t that I feel trapped in cities, but I don’t feel as free. The streets are crowded and stressful. The buildings loom above, acting as makeshift walls that hem in the world are me. Luckily, in most cities, escape is not very difficult. I took Route 138 south until I hit Route 44, then I followed it all the way to Hartford, CT. Route 44 had seemed like the obvious choice from the map, but I hadn’t realized how enjoyable and informative it would be. As I passed through Providence, RI, I recognized sections from the marathon I ran back in 2011. In Mansfield, I remembered falling in love with the Connecticut countryside on an earlier visit to Storrs. In Hartford, I realized how stark the racial divide is between East and West Hartford. Route 44 showed me all of that. I wonder what Interstate 84 would have shown me…

In Hartford, I swung by the Whole Foods to check in with a friend for awhile, but had to make it relatively quick. Just beyond Hartford lay my goal for the day: Canton. I had never heard of Canton, but it is an exceedingly special place. Let me preface my experiences in Canton with a bit of background. There are quite a few people in my life for whom their home acts as their foundation. Of course, this is true of many people to some degree. I am talking about those people whose hearts will always be unwaveringly connected to the places they grew up and the memories that they built there. In the time that I knew Ellie in college, I could always tell that she was one of those people. From her quiet love of horses, to her talk of lands fit for a school, I could always tell that her home in Canton must be something truly special. Now I completely understand.

Abandoning Route 44, I climbed a windy, steep road to an elevated clearing, where I found Ellie sitting on her porch, shaded from the mid-afternoon sun. All around her a young forest was happily and healthily providing a luscious green backdrop. Birdsongs and a faint breeze filled the clean air. What a transition from the streets of Boston this was… We plopped down on the porch and fell into a relaxed conversation about our time in North Carolina and our plans for the future. Soon, we headed off over the hill towards the horses. There, the forest had been tamed and replaced with emerald green grass organized by white post fences. As we walked down the hill towards the barn, I felt like I was getting closer and closer to something that Ellie held so dear. Her passion for horses had not been highly visible during our time in school, she had always had to travel for shows. Here, it was front and center. Timidly (and with more than a little help), I readied Berkley for a ride while she prepared Oliver, her horse. After a quick refresher course in riding, I hopped on and we leisurely toured the farm. I think Berkley could tell that I hadn’t ridden a horse in over a decade, but my confidence grew as we meandered down hills, past fences, and around the training grounds. Last time I went riding, I couldn’t help but giggle every time my horse broke into a canter. This time, I was struck at the sheer power and grace of these animals. They are truly amazing to watch and to work with. They communicate with you on so many levels.

Ellie (riding Oliver) and I (riding Berkley).

The horses had already done their training for the day, so we had to keep the ride short. Descending the ridge once more, we headed home to start cooking. After roughly an hour of chopping, dicing, processing, and prepping, we had all the ingredients (the vast majority of which came from their garden) lined up for pizza on the grill. Even though we were only cooking two pizzas, Ellie and her family entrusted an entire pizza to me. After whipping up some tomato basil hummus, I spread beets, zucchini, basil, tomato, green pepper, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, and a dash of fig balsamic over the dough. With corn boiling on the stove, we popped the pizzas on the grill, while Ellie set a beautiful table up on the hill. With fresh picked flowers as our centerpiece we sat down to a wonderful meal shared with truly amazing people. I felt truly blessed to be able to share a place they all hold so dear with them.