Blue comfort

Life is full of surprises. Over the last three weeks some of those surprises have kept me on the run. Running up the mileage.

But as glum as some tasks are, some of that mileage comes over the blue highways, the same ones that William Least Heat-Moon wrote about. At every opportunity on a trip, I get off the interstate. Always have, always will.

Click to view larger image.So on July first I found myself in Mayville, N.Y., at their Lakeside Park, conveniently located across the street from Boxcar Barneys Ice Cream shop.

It was there I coerced the teenage servers to attempt their first root beer shake. Yes, shake, not float. I’ve had a yen for them since childhood. And surprisingly, it was pretty good, just a bit off on the syrup/ice cream ratio.

The little lakeside park was a slice of Americana with families picnicking, casual sunbathers, kids building a mud sluice and even a scaled down paddleboat cruising the lake (Chautauqua). It felt so 1950’s and was a comfortable moment.