Legend of Sleepy Hollow
By Rose Wessel
20 Oct 2008
What city do you live in? What neighborhood?
Cummington, Massachusetts. I'm on the crest of Bryant Hill. The top of our mountain sports a white geodesic dome that is some sort of air traffic control station. It can be seen all over the region, so it's easy to tell people where I live. However, many people never get out off the main highways in the area and have no idea how remote it really is.
What are some adjectives that describe your neighborhood?
rural, scenic, woody, forest, forested, fields, wildlife, eagle, hawk, bear, deer, fox, hardwood, pine, grove, mountain, hill, hilltown, remote, rustic, woods
How long have you lived there, and what brought you there?
We've lived in Cummington since 2002. We lived in the inner city for seven years before that and in milltowns before that. I've always wanted to settle somewhere closer to nature where there was room for extensive gardens. I was so pleased to find that the wildlife, plant and animal, was also so abundant and varied. I'd given up on photography until I moved here. Just a few months amidst the stark beauty of the Hilltowns made me go out and get a good camera and start shooting again.
What is your favorite thing about this place? Your least favorite?
My most favorite thing about living here is the constant immersion in nature. The people in town are also wonderful. There are many like-minded souls tucked away in the woods.
The worst thing isn't always a bad thing. It's the distance to the conveniences of a city. We're about 20 miles either way from towns of 30-50,000 thousand people. On the other side, the sense of quiet and spaciousness can't be beat.
Do you feel that you belong there?
Oh, heck yeah. I've never felt so at home anywhere.
What is the most common misconception about where you live?
That we're unaware of what hip and going on in the cities. Internet, people ... internet. And even though we're in a remote little town, New York City is still only about four hour's drive, Boston under three, Hartford and Albany are a couple of hours at the most. We get around enough. :)
What is a special fact about your city that you have to live there to know?
Living on top of the hills, the clouds are so much closer.
What aspect of your city do you secretly love?
It's the darkest corner of New England. It's situated within the hills in a way that there's no glow from surrounding cities. Because of that, the view of the stars is spectacular. On a crisp October night, you can see the moons of Jupiter with the naked eye. There's an astronomy center on the hill next to ours because of it. It's one of the main reasons we moved out here.
Anything else you'd like to add?
There is so much to see in everyday situations out here, I can't help but take my camera everywhere. Thanks to JPG, I can share it with all of you!
All of the pictures I've selected here are from within two miles of my house.
