 kmccarthy, Mon, April 28th, 2008 The scent of memories always moves in with a new season. Sure, we should be looking ahead, and little is as sweet as an upstate spring. Finally, the snow is gone, the piles of leaves wait by the side of the road for the leaf sucker, and the trees have sprouted tiny leaves that are a heartbreakingly tender shade of green. The scent of fresh earth also brings reminders of time gone by. Maybe somebody you remember floats along that warming breeze; maybe the sound of children playing reminds you of a neighborhood game of “Spud” from your own childhood, when staying out past dark was a delight. This spring, I’ve been thinking about a time that wasn’t even mine. Square dancing, in particular, comes to mind. One of my fellow planning board members recalled days of his youth square dancing in a big red barn in the souther part of town, and on the Bethlehem Trolley Tour recently, town clerk Kathy Newkirk talked about it, too, during her presentation at the Bethlehem Historical Association Museum in Cedar Hill. My mother, also, has shared stories of being a teenager and going to square dances in Arlington, Vt., which still has a green marked by a covered bridge and a square, white church with a steeple keeping watch over fields and the Battenkill River. My imagination lets me hear the strains of fiddles and a caller’s voice as people pair up and do-si-do. Our lives are so busy, and our social gatherings so few, I love imagining neighbors all arriving with fresh-baked pies for the dessert table, and a ready smile for a friend or neighbor. I imagine flushed faces as people move through reels and allemandes; stolen kisses outside the barn door; a moonlit walk back to the car. I hum “Roseville Fair” to myself as I imagine simpler days. We all love our town for many different reasons. Mine is primarily that this has been a place where my children have been able to have some independence as they move through adolescence - under the watchful eye of people they don’t even realize are watching. I also love the past of our town, the varied architecture and tree-lined streets; all the people who grew up here, stayed or went briefly away and now are raising their own kids here. Our memories might not be of square dances, but chances are good there will be moonlit walks and chats with our neighbors. Next spring, what will you think about? CATEGORY: General Society
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