A Great Weekend with a Magical, Frost-y Beginning

Saturday, we took Deanne [The Lazy Letterboxer] and Dave [The Letterboxing Ham] on a tour of Bennington, VT. Our first stop was the burial place of poet, Robert Frost. As we wound our way through the cemetery behind that historic white Congregational church that stands guard, we encountered an elderly man with what appeared to be his son. The elderly man asked if we knew where Robert Frost was buried. I told him to follow us, as we were headed there. Once Sue, Deanne and Dave got to the grave, we were joined by our new elderly friend and son.

The elderly man then asked us if we knew any of Frosts works. Dave and Sue both answered with "the horse might think it queer." He then proceeded to recite the entire poem, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, from memory, and with the panache of a poet on a stage. Supported by only a cane, our new friend brought a special meaning to our location.

He then told us that on that inaugural day for JFK, when Frost was called upon to recite his special poem for the event, the wind took his script and carried the papers into the crowd. Undaunted, Frost repeated from memory The Road Not Taken. Our new friend then recited that complete poem for us, again from memory, with clear and lilting voice.

Now all of this may seem impressive but the best was yet to come. I asked him if he was a teacher, possibly an English teacher. His son kind of laughed and the elderly gentleman said something like "a long time ago." He then told us that he was a contemporary of Frost's. "I am almost 100 years old!", he said - much to our complete surprise. It was like reliving history and a special moment that the four of us will not forget for a long time.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."