Ash Thoreau

Today was a random, chill day in Massachusetts. We decided to wander and take photos in the morning. I got a decent few with my Polaroid. A fire fighter waved at my kid as they left the firehouse in an engine, which was awesome. And I happened across a well stocked Little Free Library.

I almost just picked something at random at the library when I found in the back behind many other books, Misty of Chinteague by Marguerite Henry. She is one of my favorite children’s authors!

Side story: When growing up in Arizona, my mom used to take me to a used book store a lot. One specific trip, I found a book, King of the Wind, by Henry. I absolutely love it. Now as an adult, if I find a copy I can’t stop myself from purchasing it.

So imagine my surprise when I found this other Henry book just waiting to be picked up.

I sadly didn’t have a book to trade on me. I had planned to go back and add a book, but my kid didn’t last as long as I had hoped. So I will have to pay it forward. It’s not ideal. I’ll also leave a book with my husband’s sister. See if she could drop it off for me there sometime. I had brought a book with the intention of trading, but forgot to tote it around.

After the photo shoot, we drove over to a paintball shop to check out their products. No purchases were made. Then we headed over to a local yarn shop. It was so cute!

The store was called The Sheep Shack! It was in Holden, Massachusetts. I met the owner Cynthia who was an absolute doll. She pointed me to some locally made/hand dyed yarn, and gave me a brief background of the company, The Speakman Sisters. It was very interesting. I could have spend the entire afternoon in there with her except the husband and kid were waiting the car.

It was then time to meander back. We took surface streets back and fell in love with Massachusetts all over again. The amount of trees really is just insane. Then finished up the day with getting dinner at Pizza Chef again.

I should be sleeping now but that feels impossible. It’s my last few hours in the state and I don’t want to leave. I love it so much and it’s so difficult to leave the family.

My husband was so supportive this trip, knowing how stressed I was initially. And my kid loves playing outside here. The thought of going home is depressing. I need to come up with some goals and plans to keep the momentum moving forward. I don’t want to lose myself even more in the post-vacation-blues.