Connecting Connecticut

Hadlyme. Oil on canvas, 12x12. sold

I grew up in Connecticut, but you'd never know it from my grasp of the state's geography. So yesterday, when it became clear to me that because of a traffic jam on Route 9 (for instance, I didn't know you could get to Route 9 from West Hartford), I decided to cut across on Route 82, and see if there was something to paint on the way.

Maybe, just maybe, places would start to fall into my geographically challenged grasp.

Last fall, I was amazed to take Route 82 outside of Norwich and find myself in Colchester, on Route 85. So I knew that Route 82 would, eventually, take me to a place I knew, and a place from which I could find my way home.

I didn't know that it would take me through Chester and Hadlyme and near Gillette's Castle. I didn't know it would take me through some of the most luscious and scenic countryside I've seen in Connecticut.

It was tough to decide when to stop and paint; each hill and curve promised another beautiful view. So I stopped here, on a road near the ferry that goes to Chester. More egrets than cars passed me as I painted. I can hardly wait to go back.