Visions of New England [antikvár]

Wherever and whenever beauty of landscape and shore is mentioned, New England must surely come to mind, and the picture most often imagined must just as surely be of this lovely region of America in the fall. Throughout the densely-forested states that make up New England: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, color fills the eye - vermilions, oranges, russets, greens and golds in every imaginable hue - all painted In broad strokes as far as the eye can see. Other seasons, too, have their charm. In winter the land rests under a blanket of crisp, white snow, taken advantage of by winter sports enthusiasts in their thousands who come to ski the slopes and skate the glassy, frozen lakes. Spring sees the blossoming of all manner and variety of flower, fruit and tree, and hot summer days, filled with sunshine, now tempt people onto the delightful Atlantic beaches, or into the splendor of the magnificent State Parks. But, for the real magic of New England, nothing can replace the sight or memory of those wonderful autumns.New England still epitomizes rural America, with its white, wooden churches, red, clapboard houses (actually known as New England bam red, a color derived from the early settlers' use of ox-blood), gray, timbered barns, and the cranberries, maple syrup and succulent shellfish that are as much a part of the past as they are of the present It is fitting, therefore, that it was here that the real story of America began, for New England's history goes back to 1620, when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived on the Mayflower, landed in what isFacing page: White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire.present day Provincetown, and settled in Massachusetts. Their famous voyage was subsidized by a loan of L7,000, later redeemed by the sale of furs from Maine's beaver dams. After signing the Mayflower Compact they crossed the bay and founded the Plymouth Plantation. Soon, more Puritans arrived, seeking escape from religious persecution in England, and within four years 10,000 had settled. By the end of the century there were 80,000 - and 50,000 more had made their homes in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire. With their religious zeal, their capacity for hard work, and their high standards, these early New Englanders forged a society of strong and independent people; people who contributed immeasurably to the making of America, for they and their descendants provided many of the nation's leaders, statesmen, writers and merchants and, in addition, they established many banking institutions and seats of learning.Modem-day NewEngland is a unique mix of the old and the new, the natural and the man-made. Bustling cities such as Boston and Hartford retain much of their old-world elegance and charm, and yet sacrifice none of their modern business efficiency. Major industries make use of the ingrained work ethic that has always marked the New Englander, while in her venerable colleges and universities New England offers the finest of educational facilities.Despite all this, it is still back to those quiet, peaceful forests that the mind returns to savor the real spirit of this unique corner of America.