I was born in Springfield, Mass. but spent most of my early life in Ludlow, Mass. My sister DuAnne and her husband Dick live in the house that we lived in from about 1952 until I went away to college. They moved there to care for Mom who passed away last year. They are moving to a ‘new’ house nearby and have the old family home up for sale so this will (hopefully) be our last visit to that house. My brother Leonard (Len) lives a few miles away in Brimfield, Mass. I have been coming back to Ludlow every year for at least the last 30 or so to visit family and every year they throw out the red carpet and spend lots of time with me and Carol and this year is no exception.

Besides family, food is a big attraction for me here. The seafood in New England and Massachusetts especially is some of the best in the world. My favorites are clams – the same Ipswich clams that I had in Maine. They are great steamed or fried and, because they are not always available, we sometimes have to travel a little to get them.

Last night – Thursday – we had to drive quite a way but they were delicious. On the way to get dinner the family showed us the horrendous tornado damage that occurred last summer in a 36-mile path from Springfield to the Brimfield, Mass. area. Much of the area is heavily forrested but the tornado changed all of that. A sometimes half-mile wide path of trees was completely destroyed like a giant vehicle had driven through the woods. Lots of houses were destroyed too. Miraculously only 3 people were killed. This is an area where tornados are unheard of and storm shelters are non-existent.

On our way home we stopped for ice cream and a little fun.

Today, Friday, I plan to do a little GMC work – passenger side exhaust manifold bolt apparently need tightening. I think that sides exhaust pipe may have been hit on the way out of my sisters house in Maine. Here driveway/road is not a place to take a GMC.