Anywhere New England

Anywhere America is concrete roads, outlet malls, fast food restaurants like Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Panda Express, with bustling highways mere blocks from where you are. The highways have tall concrete walls with designs carved into them, you know what I’m talking about right? Of course you do, because these stretches of area are quite literally in every state, so unremarkable in their sameness it brings a sense of comfort.

But have you heard of anywhere New England? Stretches of backcountry filled with White and Red Pines, Black Cherry trees, White Beech, Spruce, and of course Eastern Hemlocks. The forests are different, the geology is different, but not different enough for the average forest goer to keep out the wandering question: Where exactly am I in New England? As I sit in New Hampshire backcountry it deeply reminds me of Vermont, and Massachusetts, and Upstate New York, and of course Connecticut. The streams glistening with sunlight, damp moss adorning boulders, ground covered in crackling leaves, whimsy absolutely overflowing.

It’s intriguing how similar the backcountry is here, but how deeply I am in love with every little difference. I mean what they say is right, Vermont in the Spring is the most wonderful thing, but no one mentioned how easy it is to just be. To sit here in nature and not be bored. To be mesmerized and feel so deeply at peace here. To take in a deep breath and smell clean and like the forest. Why I think I’d go as far as to say it’s my favorite smell in the world. Why I think I’d go as far as to say it’s one of my favorite

anywheres

in

America.