Renewed Appreciation June 2025

After her graduation from The Farmington School, Miss Edith Morton Chase went on the obligatory Grand Tour of Europe with her chaperones Lucy and Mary Burrall. That trip was the beginning of a lifelong travel friendship among the three women. Feeling a certain kinship with these three women, who clearly enjoyed each other's friendship, I checked into my Aer Lingus flight on May 20 from Bradley Airport to Dublin, Ireland, with my retired teacher friend Priscilla.

Although Miss Edith and the Burrall sisters most likely traveled in a bit more luxury than we did (we lugged our suitcases around and depended on the excellent Irish public bus system), I am sure that they felt the same sense of added perspective and the excitement of meeting new people that we felt being away from our home country.

During the three weeks that my friend Priscilla and I spent traveling around Ireland, I never felt far from Topsmead.  The landscape of Ireland with its crazy quilts of pastures defined by hedgerows and stone walls was reminiscent of the fields of Topsmead.  The many, many cows and sheep free ranging in the pastures echoed the past residents of the Topsmead landscape when it was in its full working farm mode. The small towns that we spent time in had the same cozy neighborhood feeling as the small towns of Litchfield County.

One big difference, however, was the magnificent wild Atlantic coastline of western Ireland with its ever-present wind and its ever-in-motion ocean waves crashing into the bottoms of looming craggy cliffs topped by green grass well-manicured by the ever-present herds of wandering sheep.

Upon returning home to prepare for the start of the Friends of Topsmead's season of docent house tours, I brought with me two gifts:  first, a renewed understanding of the value of getting away from it all; second, a renewed appreciation for the tranquility and nurturing spirit that a property like Topsmead offers to all of its visitors, domestic and foreign alike.

Margaret Hunt
BlogMistress