Care to join me for a sunday stroll?

I'll warn you though...its a long one (the walk & this post) But I think when we're done you'll understand perfectly why I love living in this quaint little New England town.

Ready?

Ok..heading out from my house. One thing in this town...you can't be afraid of walking uphill (a lot). Princeton sits at the base of Mount Wachusett and it is very hilly here....but I think you'll see it's well worth the effort. My new companion is raring to go and full of energy after a good night sleep.



This is the Protestant church at the center of town. Beyond it lies the town common, complete with a white gazebo & surrounded by beautiful old homes. I'll show you that photo on the way home though.

On the north side of the town common is the library & the town hall beyond that. This library is gorgeous. Behind the tree is a clock tower with a bell in it built by Paul Revere. I hear that beautiful sound from my home every hour, on the hour letting me know what time it is. The woodwork inside the building is quite a sight to see as well. The bell is chiming 11 times now as I type this. Must get to bed soon...

There are many beautiful old stone walls along the way. Love that about New England ! Stone walls are everywhere.

And this very old graveyard.....I've been wanting to go in explore here for a long time and lucky you get to join me...

Complete with underground tombs. Kind of creepy huh? I took this picture quickly & moved on.

I'm really glad that the town continues to recognize these veterans all these years later.

Even poor Humphry Moore who died 218 years ago at the age of 49 (which was probably considered old age back then). I'm facinated by old graveyards....I love reading the names and dates on the headstones.

Moving on we took a little detour off the road onto this piece of property (which is for sale if you are interested)...the house is to the right of this scene in the clearing ahead. I love this photo. Some pictures don't come out nearly as good as they look to your eyes...but some....like this one come out better.

And the scene above opened up to this scene. Well worth trespassing for don't you think? The tallest part of the horizon that you see is Mt Wachusett. A small but very pretty mountain complete with a ski area and lots of trails to explore on your way to the top. On the far right of this horizon way of in the distance you can see New Hampshire. From the top of the mountain, on a clear day, you can see all 5 surrounding states (ME, NH, VT, CT & RI)

Lots of beautiful homes and barns as well in Princeton.

The picture below is not clear because I was trying to zoom in from a distance before he flew away. But if you look closely you can see the long legged, long necked Blue Heron standing on the waters edge.

Tanner just saw a dog go around the bend ahead that he really wanted to go play with. But we are turning around here and crossing back in the other direction....

to walk down this pretty country road...

Now back into the center of town..this is the Catholic church. It doesn't show up in this photo, but to the left of that flag I could see the skyline of Boston (45 or so miles southeast of Princeton). The town common is to the left of me when I took this.

Here is a panoramic shot of the common. To the right of the gazebo you can see the steeple of the church that I showed you at the beginning of the walk. The red building to the left of the gazebo is the town hall. The library is directly behind that gazebo at the top of the hill. This is the center of town...population 3500. And protected by the town not to let business move in and spoil its beauty. There is no gas station in town, only one small convenience store, one pizza parlor, 2 other restaraunts, and 1 country inn...and thats about it. I used to have a dear friend in Cheyenne Wyoming who was a real outdoorsman. He thought I was very citified (is that a word?) being from the Boston area and all. And I used to joke with him that he was the one who lived in the city not me. I called him "city boy"...he called me "country girl". I think he always thought I was really the city person though. I don't think he ever realized just how "country & outdoors" my life was. Ah well...we lost touch years ago. But I think of that "city boy" often hoping that life has been good to him. He was a good man & he deserved more happiness than he had when I knew him. Anyway...back to our walk...enough reminicing....

Back near where we started. I'm not a religious person but the doors of the church were open for worship as we walked by & we could hear the sounds of the organ & parishioners singing as we walked by...its was a nice sound on this gorgeous Sunday morning. And while I may not enter churches all that often...this one sure is fun to photograph.

It actually used to be across the street but when the library was built it was moved to its current location.

And here we are back home again. Hope you enjoyed taking that stroll with me. After 3 & 1/2 miles Tanner was very tired & asleep in a matter of minutes. Thanks for coming along with us & letting me share my little corner of the world with you.