Z is for Zooming off to Endwell. Last of twenty-six posts in the April 2017 Blogging From A to Z Challenge on the theme “Whispering Chimneys: My Altamont childhood” — where my genealogy journey began. With this post I’m also zooming across the finish line! Thanks for joining me on the journey!
Zooming traffic on Route 20 was the soundtrack of my early years at Whispering Chimneys, my family’s Altamont, N.Y., farm.
Sure, there were quiet times on the cross-country interstate. Most nights there were long, silent intervals between the muffled whoosh of lone vehicles passing by.
But the rest of the time there was the steady roar of trucks, cars and farm equipment — and the amber cones of their night-time headlights — as they rushed east and west to their destinations.
In my early years, Route 20 was the most tangible border between my life on the farm and the outside world.
I could not cross or travel along the interstate without an adult as a passport.
I could wait next to the road for the school bus; yell across the highway to my friend Kathy, who lived on the other side; and even retrieve the mail, which brought me dangerously close to the zooming traffic. But to venture any further, I needed a grownup.
Into the zooming traffic
Fortunately, my parents and grandparents loved being part of the zooming traffic. So I rode in their cars to dance class, to church, to visit relatives, to go shopping — and even once to Boston on vacation.
Best of all were the trips to special local events — the circus, museums, parades and such. They were always a great adventure!
Finally, the year I turned seven, we entered the zooming traffic and embarked on the greatest adventure yet.
We were zooming off to Endwell — to our new house along the Susquehanna River west of Binghamton, New York.
And just like that I was transformed from a youngster in a household of mostly adults to the oldest child in a growing family — which now included two younger brothers!
A river replaces the roadway
Our Endwell house was smaller than Whispering Chimneys — a compact little Cape Cod with its attic turned into bedrooms. But its small size was more than made up for by a neighborhood bursting with children — 52 on our block alone at the peak of the Baby Boom!
No more yelling across the highway to my lone rural neighbor! From now on my home life would be punctuated by the raucous pandemonium of scores of children at play.
The roaring traffic on Route 20 was replaced by the ebbs and flood tides of the Susquehanna River — the new natural boundary near my second childhood home, where I lived until I left for college .
Whispering Chimneys: The long goodbye
And Whispering Chimneys? My maternal grandparents continued to live there for another fourteen years — and I’m glad they did.
Because the farm became our family’s destination for long weekends, holidays and summer vacations — a steady reminder of the pleasurable years I spent there as a young child.
Congratulations to my fellow A to Z bloggers, and thanks for joining me on this year’s journey! Watch for a Reflections post on May 8.
And please stop back on May 5 for a one-stop summary of this year’s #AtoZChallenge posts about “Whispering Chimneys: My Altamont childhood.”
© 2017 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.