IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of October 20, 2016

by Katie Ouilette

WALLS, you have the book! What’s more, I didn’t know Longfellow wrote some of those poems! Well, faithful readers, there’s another history lesson coming your way! Yes, you know I love history, but Longfellow did not know that the Denises would be staying in a room at the famous Wayside Inn, in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Well, of course, it is called Longfellow’s Wayside Inn by everyone who knows.

Yes, I felt compelled to read this new antique book and, wow, WALLS, memories were a popping, for sure. In fact, faithful readers, if you’ve stayed in a hotel or motel, you know that the telephone’s ringing wakes you up if you have asked for a wake-up call. Not at the old Wayside Inn, however, as, just like in Longfellow’s day, there was a knock on the door for wake-up time. Yup, faithful readers, so it was when Denises lived there for a few days in 1961.

Thank heavens, our three kiddos were with Nana Roxie and Poppy Henry in Maine but everyone was eager when our house on Dutton Road was ready for occupancy. However, we had some interesting experiences there. Russell attended nursery school next door to our house. That was ‘lou-lout’s house.’

Yup, she had a horse that the students could ride, but one day, when Daddy Joe was on the tall ladder patching holes in the outside of our house that a woodpecker found inviting, the horse decided to join Joe. So Joe descended in a hurry and equally so, Lou-Lou got her horse back!

Yes, WALLS mentioned memories a bit ago, because Longfellow had written about the people gathered in the Wayside Inn’s living room in his Tales of a Wayside Inn. Longfellow mentions men gathered around and listening to stories (who said women do all the talking!) and there was a musician playing a violin. Applause sounded occasionally.

Frankly, WALLS, can you picture the men? In those days of the 1700s, they even wore beautiful suits with ruffles and on their heads were wigs! In today’s world, men have shaved heads, beards of all lengths and the women have long-long-long hair! Someone has said that times change and surely changes have taken place in so many ways…..whether attire or other grooming.

Well, WALLS, since I did mention the three Denis young’uns, I will close with a salute to our local….in Maine…. local schools. Those three Denis students eventually ended up in Madison schools and, frankly, we were so fortunate that, when growing up in East Madison, they received a really great education right here in Madison! I know that none of the teachers that taught Craig, Russell and Lynn are still active in their calling, but this is a good time to let you faithful readers know that I am definitely appreciative of what they did in giving our children an education and not using them as experiments. Oh, teachers in Massachusetts didn’t know that was happening, but we knew that back in Maine ‘our young folk’ were being guided to their respective future.