Thank you all for your comments. I have been secretly writing for a long time and now it is fun to share it with you!

Well, today was not a terribly interesting day. Last night, however, was pretty funny. I arrived at a good friend's house last evening, enjoyed a lovely meal and chatted by the fire. It was great. I start to yawn and think about the nice cozy bed that awaits me. Finally, I summon the energy to go upstairs and brush my teeth, get ready for bed, etc only to realize I left my toiletry kit in Bennington. I am now in Norwich...a few mountain passes away from Bennington. This leaves me without my toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, soap, lotion, and most importantly, my contacts. Considering I have been on the road for a month straight and this is the first time I left or lost anything, I think that is pretty good. However, it is not like I just left a pair of socks behind. No sirree. Pretty much, everything that keeps me clean and presentable is sitting in a room in Bennington. Woohoo! No worries though, the nice lady in Bennington is overnighting it to me so I will only smell today.

Beyond that, my day was tame. I did see a great bumper sticker: WHERE ARE WE GOING? AND WHY AM I IN THIS HANDBASKET? Every time I look at this quote I start to giggle. And that is how I entered school #1 on this frosty, Vermont morning.

Last thought of the day:
How do small towns in the US stay afloat. As I drive along the back roads of New York, Vermont, Ohio, etc. I encounter these small towns with maybe 5000 people, if that. They often consist of a general store, a diner or two, maybe an insurance agent, and most importantly, a church, a bar and a school. None of these things seem like enough to keep a town running. I realize there is industry hidden away, off the roads, and most likely nestled along the banks of rivers, but how do these towns keep on going?
That said, I am sad to report that much of America's medium to large sized towns are starting to look the same. With Best Buy, Walmart, Pier One, and other "suburban" stores creating a strip effect in each town, sometimes I forget where I am. Driving along, I smile to myself as I see these little main streets with antique stores, restaurants called "Molly's" or "Jake's Diner", enjoying the unique-ness of that place. Then, just as I start to head out of town, I encounter this mass of brightly lit, horizon blocking stores--and they are the same stores every time. While I understand the need for jobs, and the need to have stuff, these stores look the same no matter where they are located. The individuality of the town is stripped away. I quickly forget Main St. and become overwhelmed by the mass of stuff in front of me. Often times I have just left a nice diner where everyone knows each other and people are friendly--the experience is personal, one-of-a-kind only to be clobbered by what seems to be the new face of America's towns. I don't like it. Now, I am not knocking big business, mainly because I think I am too ignorant to knock it properly, but I am wondering why these placces could not at least try to fit in with the landscape already in place. Why do these stores have to mammouth? Why couldn't they exist to complement the town instead of contrast and even overshadow the town? I fear we are losing our personality in the US. I fear that we are becoming standardized, de-individualized without asking questions or prostesting. These towns offer so much, each with their own flavor, feeling and personality only to be marginalized by a huge yellow Best Buy sign. I don't know where I am going with this. But, I do wonder why we are so complacent in letting our history slide away in favor of ugly, boxy, ostentatious stores that offer little in the way of service and nothing that is personalized or unique.