I Live Here & It Affects Everything.

About a year or so ago, while I was working on the Early Autumn quilt, I wrote a post about what early autumn looked like here in New Hampshire, where I live. 

I wrote: "Seeing all these trees that border the roads is one of the things that defines northern New England. To me, it means I don't know what's up ahead, around the corner. It's always a surprise. Out west, I can see for vast distances, but I don't feel as protected as I do in New England, where I am surrounded by trees."

Later, one commenter wrote "Since you like being closed in by evergreens..." and I thought that was wrong. She seemed to feel this made me feel safe, or stifled, which wasn't it at all. The whole exchange bothered me, and I couldn't quite figure out WHY.

Stuff like that stays with me and reappears and rolls around in my head until I can really make some sense of it. I felt I had explained what I liked about the roads being bordered by trees, but clearly I hadn't.

 Yesterday I drove out to Peterborough NH, and I took "the back way," which means I didn't take the highway. The route took me through New Boston and Francestown NH, and the speed limit never got over 40 MPH. The roads looked like these pictures. There were bends and dips and curves. For much of it, I couldn't see more than a quarter mile in front of me.

Yes, I like this. I like the surprises of the twists and the turns, the bends and the dips, the hills. I like the fact that it makes a difference which season it is, because in the summer the leaves hide the houses and the barns, but in the winter, when the leaves are off the trees, I can see more.

I like that things aren't right out in the open, but that you have to really LOOK to find them. I like that it is always different, and what I see is different each time. In my quilts I reward viewers who take the time to really LOOK and find the little surprises I hide there.

A lot like the roads where I live.