On the Road To Somewhere

High summer here in New England, and we are all

endeavoring to keep our "sunny sides UP".

(This beautiful blossom was seen at 

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 

near Boothbay Harbor, ME last week.)

Reports from 'home' tell us that the Wasatch Front

is seeing record sweltering heat, mostly normal

for the week that marks Pioneer Day in Utah.

As Minerva Teichert captured in this painting,

it was a rocky road for them, the Mormon trekkers.

We have our challenges, certainly, but we have

ample share of fun and happy times that compensate!

A few of the lighter moments that happened here at

NHMM Mission Office this week buzzed around vehicles.

With the bi-weekly influx of re-assigned missionaries,

the mission fleet (managed by Elder Warner) has needed

supplementation through means of Enterprise car rentals.

Church Headquarters specifies the size range in their short-

or long-term contracts, but the agency gets what is available

and then leases them to us. Ten cars over two days were 

convoyed down from Hooksett to the Church parking lot

with the help of the office Elders and the Assistants.

Above, Vince poses for me next to Dodge Charger #2.

The office Elders "twisted his arm" to convince him to drive

this one home overnight. The previous day, a white Charger

was in the lineup, and before it could be 'randomly' assigned out

to young Elders or Sisters being relocated with new companions,

Elders T. Smith, Allison and Wells had sweet-talked Vince

into exchanging it for their sedan. Almost too much glee was

twinkling in the sunshine when other young twenty-year-old males

examined, crossed fingers, coaxed, made attempts to

mildly bribe and bargain to be the ones assigned this "Greenie". 

During the coming and going (Elders and Sisters arriving from

the field to be paired up and get new area assignments with

arriving missionaries), casual banter about neckties

caught my attention. Addressing mission secretary Elder Wells

(above), someone admiringly asked, "Did you make that yourself?"

Elder Wells straightened his nautical anchors tie and confidently

said "Yes". I thought it a joke, and then I inquired further.

Apparently it is common for the Elders to find fabric they like

and fashion their own novel and unique neckwear - not easy!

I was dumb-struck for a few moments at the prospect --

concerned in past years at the demise of high school sewing

courses, I now know the young men are preserving the skills!

The second part to the NECKTIE story features Vince. 

I have teased him about following the young Elders' fashion of

wearing floral ties, but he firmly remains tonal, striped and stodgy.

Side chats with our missionary 'cluster' turned up an extra

flowery tie, and on Wednesday, Elder Edstrom made a gift of it 

to Vince in appreciation for providing last Sunday's dinner.

Here he is, above, wearing it that day - hope it's not the last time!

One last 'boost' from the mini transfer completed last week was

commentary by an elated Elder re-assigned from Brazil service.

He asked me candidly if "this is the regular practice", referring

to the grab-n-go bagels, cream cheese, snacks and fruit

waiting to be selected and sacked up before they drive away.

(Pictured below were preparations for that day). He humbly was

grateful for the abundance. When prompted, he reported that

even their zone conference lunches were often just what young

missionaries could scrape together and bring along: tortillas,

bread, cheese, protein of some kind, and the like. 

I'm glad to be manpower for delivering God's bounty here.

This post's theme touches on travel. 

To begin, I'll report on a somewhat ironic trip made 

by this quilting book I recently purchased online.

Prospects are dim now that the Shelburne Museum's

historic quilt collection will be viewable due to COVID-19

(north western Vermont) during our assignment period.

To make myself feel better, I searched for a substitute for

the museum tour. When this book arrived, I quickly noticed 

the 'Deseret Industries'  price sticker on the front cover.

Turning it over . . .

. . . I spied on the back the gold foil address label of Piper's,

a quilt shop formerly open in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake.

A little hillarious that this paperback began its 'commercial' life 

a few miles from where I was living at the time, was purchased 

and migrated somehow to Las Vegas, ended up as donation to 

a thrift store, became internet vendor stock, and finally 

was shipped across country to land in my mailbox here

in Manchester within driving distance of the Shelburne!
Quite a journey.

Wish I could convey the rush I continue to get while 

simply READING the characteristic destination names 

of wonderful New England as we drive.

Here, below, is the road sign we formerly (before moving)

encountered each evening as we drove 'home' after work.

Inexplicably thrilling to be close enough to have 'Boston',

and 'Salem' and 'Portsmouth' and 'Seacoast' all listed

on ONE highway interchange sign.

This for me is the "blessing" of LIVING here, and not

simply VISITING as we have done in the past - to become

familiar enough to notice the deeper layers. One of those

layers is the nuance of the road descriptors. 
Here, below, is a highway sign showing 'Goffstown Road'.

Ever wonder how or by whom routes get their names?

One difference here in historied New England comes from

the way the locales were founded, their early perspective,

what 'user friendly' meant to eighteenth century travelers.

Settlers in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and surrounding

areas looked back to Mother England, optimistically
establishing new towns of Manchester, Salem, Exeter 

and so forth. Town name duplication by these communities 
so isolated from each other was apparently not a concern.

As towns became connected by foot paths, horse trails,

and then carriage lanes, common usage applied easy,

obvious labels. For instance, the 'road that goes to Salem'

simplified over time to 'Salem Road'. So here, when we

read a sign that indicates 'Road' after a nearby town name,

it is easy to understand that the route was originally

THE way to get to that place. 

Of course, there are exceptions. Below is the highway 

sign where we exit to get to the Mission Office.

Not too sure there formerly was a 'Wellington' town,

but perhaps. I include this one because it introduces another

regional phenomenon. Not too far along NH Route 101 there

is an exit sign reading "Old Wellington Road" - indicating

that communities, colonies and regions continued to advance
and get 'newer' and better travel routes!

(FYI, Bridge St. is, of course, the street that crosses the bridge!)

Here in NHMM we deal with area names and addresses

from Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and a tiny bit of MA.

(Where were the imaginative namers during early settlement?)

Plenty of hesitating happens because of name duplications.

Leaving Massachusetts out of this, our three States 

have many common names: NH & ME (18 in common)

NH & VT, and ME & VT (8 in common with each combo)

This sign below displays TWO of the town names

held in common by all THREE of our territory states:

Bristol, Canaan, Franklin, Hancock, Jefferson (Jeffersonville, VT),

Manchester, Plymouth, Troy, Washington.

Included in a published list of 'New England' colloquialisms

is a phrase "you CAN'T get there from here."

Studying this destinations sign, below, I just bet you CAN!

(These are all New England town names; 

the sign is posted on Village Street in China, Maine.)

One European throwback left off is 'Berlin' (VT; founded 1763); 

it has a non-conventional pronunciation 'BER-lan' in order

to avoid conjuring Nazi Germany.

Thanks to Elder Condie for sharing this image above
to our FB group, which prompted consideration of
town names and destinations in the first place.

Above is a promotional photo of an interstate
in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Though a 'long view', it illustrates something we felt when 
we first were tourists here years ago. We marveled
at what seemed like 'the lack of commercial development'
along the forest-bordered highways we navigated, where
roadway exits seemed to be swallowed in leaves and branches.
We could not see past the abundant tree growth hiding 
towns and businesses, so we had no evidence they were there.

Sometimes it may seem that our dreamed-of destinations
are too far in the distance. Perspective will help us better
enjoy the ride. The beauty that we find here in New Hampshire
and surrounding New England continues to revitalize and lift
and replace any oil burning out of our lamps.
 Not to mention so many friends and 'new' family.
(But we've gotta hurry and get our remaining road trips in!)