OLD NUMBER 2

Old Number 2 was once upon a time, the pride and primary workhorse of the Uxbridge Fire Department. For decades, whenever the call went out, Number 2 led the response. But the years passed and the time came to replace Number 2 with a newer engine.

There was no room to keep the old engine in the firehouse, but there are a few advantages to living in the country and one of the big one is lots of empty land.

Old Number 2 was moved to his retirement home, a lovely, sunny lot across from the post office. Wildflowers grow all around and there are a couple of folding chairs and a little table nearby where the fire crew eats their lunch when the weather is warm.

Retired he may be, but Old Number 2 lives on in fond memory. You can visit too. He's just across from the new post office on Route 122,  just past the courthouse.

HOME

Living in the woods brings some problems with it. When the leaves fall, they infiltrate the house. They come in through the door, attached to the dogs' coats. You find them everywhere, in places you can't imagine them getting.

Trees produce pollen. Lots of it. Even if you aren't normally allergic, the air is so full of pollen it can look like it's snowing ... and that much particulate stuff in the air is going to cause irritations to the breathing apparatus of anything that breathes.

Pollen is one kind of particulate, but there are plenty more. It adds up to a level of dust and dirt that's hard to imagine. You can't clean fast enough to keep up with it, even if you clean all the time. Eventually you give in and adopt the attitude that dust is a protective layer provided my nature.

Between the dog hair, the pollen and the dust ... your standards have to come down to earth. Reality bites, but comes the Autumn, for a month and some, it's so beautiful for once, you lose your breath to the beauty, not the stuff floating in the air.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF TOWN

The Mumford River, a tributary of the Blackstone River, runs through the middle of town. The Blackstone runs through the town too, though not through downtown, though what constitutes "downtown" is arguable.

Uxbridge is about 12,000 people. We have two traffic lights, the second of which is probably redundant. Not exactly Metropolis, but it's a very pretty town. We are at our best in autumn. Nature puts on her party clothes and for about a month, we are a picture postcard.