Vacation |
Main
| The Future
April 11, 2005
Butterscotch
Butterscotch the Rabbit and his Owner, featuring the three-tiered rabbit mobile.
After an intense few days of Navy Yard work, Lex and I took a mini-vacation to New England, reciprocating on a parental visit and taking a day to soak up spring in my old college town, Northampton, MA. While showing the Almost Husband Noho was part of the plan, the real thrust of the trip was to introduce him to my old friend R and her family.
R and S were integral in my post-college adult development, providing me with mentorship and beacons of light during some very difficult times. They live a life that I very much look up to and, more importantly, they make me smile. Their daughter, who was a mere nine year old when I first met her, is now en route to becoming an adult (9th grade), which threw me for a total loop. When I saw her, I was struck with this incredible realization of time. The only thing more wild than seeing this child grow up will probably be visiting in a few years…when she was in college and Lex and I would have (possibly) child in tow.
With I visit R and S, one of our favorite methods of reminiscing includes naming and giving updates on the crazy people of Northampton. While a student, I spent an incredible amount of time sitting in front of the coffee shop watching (and sometimes cavorting with) the nuts of the town—mostly victims of the closure of the Northampton State Hospital, as well as veterans, both of whom found their way to the streets of Noho in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s. Favorite characters include Diaper Man, Fiona (name changed), Lawrence, and Tumor Man.
Sadly, none of my former compatriots was to be found on Main Street. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. Fortunately, as Lex and I settled in on a bench in Pulaski Park to eat our lunch, a ray of light shone.
I have rabbit, a loud voice announced from a nearby bench. Turning, we found a ruddy faced woman sitting next to a large, three-tiered cage crammed with crap.
I have a rabbit, she repeated, but he’s hiding.
Lex and I turned to one another, wondering whether she did, in fact, have a rabbit somewhere in there and, more importantly, if it was actually alive. Fortunately, for all (especially the bunny), she managed to drag Butterscotch out of the cage. Gently stroking him, she proceeded to tell us her story and we (rather unsuccessfully) tried to ignore her.
Apparently, she had four rabbits, the last two somehow inherited from her AA sponsor. She had pulled the rabbit cage to Noho all the way from a neighboring town, a trip that caused one of the tractor tires fastened to the cage to break off. It had been an arduous journey, but fortunately, for her, Starbucks had really god corn muffins.
Posted by callalillie at April 11, 2005 7:00 AM | The World Outside NYC
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Northampton. I lived there for a year when I was ten (at a boarding school on Round Hill Road). My favorite place in Northampton is the greenhouse and that vertical shopping mall thing (what's it called?!) and the ice cream place around the corner, down the hill.
Posted by: Nancy at April 11, 2005 8:53 PM
That would be Thornes shopping center and Herrels Ice Cream. :)
Posted by: corie at April 11, 2005 9:36 PM
that ice cream was ungodly good...or at least, it seemed to be, to a ten year old kid.
Posted by: Nancy at April 13, 2005 12:25 PM
