Locked in

Today rather got away from us, and it wasn't until mid-afternoon that we managed to get on the road to see this place: Lock 6 on the most easterly section of the Erie Canal, the 363 mile waterway built almost entirely by hand from the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie.

Now the Erie Canal has a very particular significance for me. Just as the Man and I had begun seriously discussing the possibility of moving to upstate New York, I happened to pick up a book at the Linton Mother's Union second-hand sale. It was 'The Erie Canal' by Peter Spier, and flicking through it a line jumped out at me: And every inch of the way we know, from Albany to Buffalo... Having never even heard of Albany until we'd started talking about living there, it seemed a strange coincidence suddenly to come across this reference.

I bought the book. Also a book about snow. Though we agonised about moving for many months (was it years?) to come, I think in buying those books I was already making my decision.