It has been wonderful being across town from my daughter, son-in-law and two little granddaughters and being able to see them often. But, it is getting cold and it is time to go south again.
Yesterday I started the drive to Florida.
I'm going to miss being in Ridgefield. But, I will be back for Christmas, assuming the pandemic situation in Florida and Connecticut makes travel a sensible option.
Lewisboro is a small New York town on the western border of Ridgefield, Connecticut. The "Town House" (or town hall) is a blue-and-white block with a mansard roof. The Town House sits on a country road just off the main road between Lewisboro and Ridgefield.
Peaceable Street. Can you think of a more calming street name?
Lions, pumpkins and a sturdy gate guard a fine estate on Silver Hill Road.
This blue house is on a prime location on Ridgefield's Main Street, just four doors south of the downtown. It has a carriage house behind and a pool. Like it? It can be yours. It is for sale
And, I was driving in North Salem, one of the New York towns in the horse country just across the state line from Ridgefield. I came across this place. What is it? A riding stable? An estate? A gentleman's farm? So, of course I googled the address. It is just a house (but one with space for six cars in the garages) and it is for sale. At a price just a fraction of what it must have cost to build it.
A house. A carriage house. And the trees and leaves on a gorgeous fall day.
Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
The books in the window are always so interesting. I want all of them. Local students have painted the windows of participating merchants with Halloween-themed images. I did that as a kid.
One window display shows a current political book behind a pile of humorous books co-authored by Roz Chast, a New Yorker cartoonist who lives in Ridgefield.
And a decorated scarecrow is on a tree outside the store, with its decorations inspired by a children's book, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.
Lounsbury House was featured here before. Twice, in fact. No doubt it will be here again.
Today it is here as a photo on a perfect fall day a couple of weeks ago.
And again as a water color created with the Waterlogue app.
Which do you prefer?
I am getting used to a very different environment around my new house.
One tree has a crop of unusual mushrooms around its base.
And a single tall mushroom rises from the grass.
There were mushrooms back in West Hartford, but these are quite different. I'm not going to eat any.
I like the bird house that mirrors the house itself.
I stopped my car and turned around because of the bright morning light on the leaves in the lawn. Then the sculptural shadows on the country road got me excited.
Later, I thought the image might be a good one to put through Waterlogue, to get a painterly effect.
I'm happy with the result.
Though relatively small, Ridgefield has its own art museum, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.
Stella is now in his 80s. The Aldrich included one of his paintings in an exhibition early in his career and has shown other works in numerous other exhibitions. This is its first exhibition devoted solely to Stella.
On Main Street, one of my favorite Ridgefield houses is decked out for the Fall.
Many big and beautiful houses line Main Street in Ridgefield, south of the downtown commercial district.
The architecture is quite nice but the best features are the lovely landscaping and the huge greenhouse.
Sure, I buy some books on Amazon or in a Barnes & Noble big box store, but my favorites are locally owned independent bookstores. R.J. Julia in Madison, CT. Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT.
Ridgefield has an indie bookstore that matches up with the best. Books on the Common is on Main Street, across from the Town Hall. I have never left empty-handed. My family knows that when they need a birthday or Christmas gift for me, Books on the Common is the place to go.
Frugal New Englanders didn't waste much of anything.
In Ridgefield's downtown, lots of the commercial buildings were originally residences.
The Methodist church has a prominent location on Main Street south of the downtown.
Jesse Lee was an itinerant Methodist preacher who founded more than 30 Methodist churches in New England. He preached in a different location in Ridgefield in 1789. The church moved here in 1968.
