Seven years ago, Tad and I lived in the beautiful little town of Peterborough, New Hampshire. We took a day to ourselves while we were on vacation and spent some time there. We ate dinner at our favorite restaurant (which we once lived within walking distance of - great when you plan to have the occasional celebratory bottle of wine!), stayed in a historical B&B in nearby Jaffrey, and visited all our old haunts. Peterborough is a little hippie town with a thriving arts community, set into a lovely little valley in the Monadnock region. One shopping center with a small po-dunk A&P. Want decent groceries? Better buy at the local natural food store, wait for the once weekly farmers market in the summertime, or drive at least 20 minutes to get to a large chain grocery store. Most of the commerce in Peterborough is locally owned and operated and they like it that way. Want to do some hiking? Mount Monadnock is right down the road or there are trails right on the edge of town. Perfect.

What struck me the most while we were there was that given how much we loved that little town, it just didn’t work out. Much of that had to do with the fact that Tad and I each traveled an hour in opposite directions for work and since our friends were mostly located where we worked (Keene for Tad, also where I went to college & had many friends), we never really developed a community in Peterborough. Another factor was the Winter, with a Capital W. Under perfect circumstances, the winter would still have worn us down - neither Tad nor I do winter sports and the lack of light in the winter is very noticeable compared with here in NC. Leaving in the dark for work, working long hours with no windows, and returning home in the dark, made for an unhappy Mel & Tad. So when we visited some friends in Durham, NC in February one year, and it was 45 degrees at night, and there were daffodils and trees blooming, and it was light out for an hour or more later in the evening - well, we were sold, and we moved within a couple of months. There was a little more thought given to availability of career opportunities, cost of living, proximity to things we like to do etc… but since all those were a good fit, there was no reason not to go.

This was our first place in Peterborough. Adorable, huh? We thought so too. The place has to be all of 300 square feet, and is perfectly placed a short 1/4 mile walk from a trailhead to Pack Monadnock. Priorities being what they were at the time contributed to our dissatisfaction with the teensy rooms and lack of storage for our rapidly accumulating “stuff”. As did the the overpriced rent, very leaky roof (in the tiny bedroom where the bed could only be oriented directly under said leaks), the holes in the foundation big enough to let in light from outdoors as well as mice and other beasties, the leaking water heater that buckled the floor, and the owner’s complete disregard for any of these legitimate complaints. We spent some very happy times there though - bundled up and stoking the woodstove against the cold and snow, decorating the exposed beams for Christmas… Our first Christmas tree that took up almost the entire living room… The hikes up Pack Monadnock, the walks through town, sunrises and the foliage colors on the drive over the mountain when the seasons changed. Our dreams were very different then, but ironically and with the exception of the state of disrepair, that little cabin represents much of what’s important to us now, and what we’re headed for in the future. Funny how some things come full circle, isn’t it?

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After swinging by the cabin, we decided that we had enough time to revisit Pack Monadnock and grab lunch at our other favorite restaurant, the Peterborough Diner (where we were once known by our orders “Scrambled Feta” & “Four Deuces”, and greeted with coffee) before heading off to visit some old friends outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. So we parked the car, filled a couple of water bottles and made the short but strenuous trek up the mountain. The rain had stopped and the sky began to clear, leaving us with beautiful views topped with an incredible cloud cover. Amazing. What a GREAT vacation stop.