Memory Lane

Pictures: Downtown Crosswicks, We lived upstairs on the right ($50/mo), Quaker Meeting House, PO, Where I got my oil changed

Leaving Boston, Ruth and I succumbed to the turnpikes and freeways and rolled through Connecticut, New York and into New Jersey.  The colors seemed to be following us as we glided over the hills.  As a matter of fact one would conclude that there were no towns or cities of any consequence as all that can be seen from the road is trees.  If it seemed forested from the highway, imagine what those eastern forests must have seemed like to the pilgrims.  No open spaces, no roads through the forest and woods so dense it would be nearly impossible to get your bearings.  The only alternative was to clear the land to get some breathing and growing space.  Arcing around New York City we entered northern New Jersey and had a scenic if not long drive to the town of Crosswicks, just east of Trenton.  We spent my last year in the Army and our first year of marriage there.  Getting closer, I was expecting to get a déjà vu moment but nothing really seemed familiar until we actually drove into the village.  Passing the Post Office we drove around the corner to see the little house we lived in still there next to the auto repair shop that was still in business.  And the town landmark, a Quaker meeting house with a Revolutionary War canon ball still imbedded in the side was intact and still in use since 1723.  I believe that’s called continuity.