Reminders of My Past

For a while this morning, I thought I might have more "regulars" at Afton Station than travelers today. Ron M., Marly, Phil, and Robin all spent most of the day there, and there was quite a bit of time to sit around and chew the fat while waiting for visitors. Eventually things started to get more lively.

Of the 14 visitors, three brought me memories of places I used to live. These two gentlemen grew up in North Tonawanda, NY, the town where I did my one year of public school teaching. It was there that I realized that dealing with 7th and 8th grade remedial students wasn't my cup of tea. The kids got the best of me and I hung up my teaching hat. Nevertheless, the days when we lived in Buffalo and I taught in the suburb were some of the happiest of my young life. And these two gentlemen, who live elsewhere now, were happy reminders of those days.

Earlier in the day, I made the acquaintance of a lively and fun woman from Hauppauge, Long Island, NY. If you looked across Long Island Sound from the beach of my previous home town of Darien, CT you could almost see Hauppauge. The lady, Genay, expressed an interest in leaving the East Coast and moving permanently to our part of the country, possibly even Afton itself. She wants to have enough land to raise horses, and to be away from the traffic and madness of the NYC metro area. I can relate! I hope she makes the move.

Other visitors came from Detroit MI, Youngsville NC, Mount Clemens MI, Eastpointe MI, Sand Springs OK, Cave Creek AZ, Seneca OK, and Barcelona Spain.

Recently, an artist/photographer named Bob Davis presented us with this "altered photograph" showing Afton Station as it might have looked in the '50s. Starting with a photo, he adds, subtracts, and rearranges things to capture the feel of a previous decade. We like it very much and intend to get it framed soon. More of his work can be seen at www.locustgrovestudio.com.