Greene, NY and Binghamton, NY

On the road between Pittsburgh and Boston, I was fortunate enough to meet my uncle Bob's family in Greene, NY. A short fifteen minute drive North of Binghamton, NY where Bob grew up, Greene, lives up to its name in the summer time, with a lush cover of verdant fields and hearty trees. Bob's cousin Shari, her father, Ted, and her husband Jeff all welcomed me over for at dinner at their farm style home. As I pulled  into their driveway, their dogs came out to welcome me with barks which quickly turned to eager licks and panting. It didn't take long before Jeff offered me a beer, which I happily drank after a tiresome drive, and showed me around the house. Shari was also kind enough to introduce me to her two horses, who were being assailed by throngs of flies. Luckily they wore special bonnets that gave them a small amount of protection around their most sensitive areas.

Dale's house in Binghamton

Living on the road for over a month, I had forgotten how much a pleasant sit-down meal could be when it was enjoyed in the company of others. Thankfully, Shari, Jeff and Ted, shared heart warming food and scintillating conversation back into my life. Ted, newly single after his wife's recent passing, had in the past few months started taking up cooking as he was the only at home. He contributed a delicious egg salad which had the perfect texture, not too dry, but not soaked through with mayonnaise. Over dinner I heard interesting stories about Bobby (aka uncle Bob) and his adventures growing up. With night falling quickly and the mosquitoes coming out in full force, I said my goodbyes and thank yous to Jeff Shari and Ted and headed towards Binghamton for the evening.

Dale, Bob's mother, had generously opened her home in Binghamton to me even though she was out on vacation in Delaware. I let myself in using the spare key that she had strategically hid for me, but had a difficult time finding a light switch which resulted in a session of clumsy wall groping for a good minute or two. Once I finally flicked the switch, I found a endearing hand written note Dale had left me. She explained where I could find everything in the house and let me know there was ice tea waiting for me in the fridge. I was sad I wouldn't be able to see her during my trip, but I was touched by letter she had left me. I now understood why my uncle Bob can be a man of such compassion. It wasn't long before I sought out my bed for the evening and laid down for some rest.


The following morning, feeling refreshed from a full nine hours of sleep, I woke up and went through my morning routine. For breakfast, I finished the leftovers of fruit salad that Shari had given me from the previous night's dinner. After, I went for a quick jog to get the blood pumping, but managed to lose my bearings on the return loop and had to wander around the Binghamton streets for a short while until I finally stumbled upon Dale's house. I cleaned up in the shower changed clothes and walked down to the house's basement to see uncle Bob's father's model train set. I had heard about it several times from Bob and was curious to see it in real life. Taking up almost half of the house's garage, the train set was much bigger than I had imagined. Five separate control panels controlled all the various aspects of the model including individual train speeds, track switching, and animation of the various services and stations. Alas, those were all conjectures as I couldn't operate the system myself. I tried a few of the on/off switches, but none of them seemed to be connected. Even in their inanimate form, the trains, model people, and the scenery all seemed alive because of the incredible detail with which they were created and maintained. Bob's father's passion for trains shone through in all the small details of the set. I can only imagine how impressive the whole model would be in full swing. 


I'll leave you all with some photos of the set: