on the road

Vacation is here, and I'm in NY visiting with my family. I grew up in this sleepy little town, and it's both reassuring and nice to see how little it has changed. A lot of my school friends still live here, and the bank is still in the same historical building. Because the village is a historical village - it is protected from being built up. Not so around my dad's house, which used to be the only house down in the hollow. Now houses are springing up nearby, there are lots plowed up and for sale in what used to be a meadow, and there is talk about draining the wetlands. (I hope that comes to nothing - it's a great place for wildlife) But despite the building, or perhaps because of it, we are seeing lots of wild animals that I never saw while growing up there. A bobcat, a flock of wild turkeys, and several families of whitetail deer live in my father's property. I hope they are here to stay.