Traffic Signs and Agnes Moorehead

I have noticed in the Boston area lots of signs everywhere that are relatively pointless, like the “Snow Plows Be Careful” sign that is posted every ½ mile. Don’t they know that they should be careful? After all I’m sure that’s a government job and being careful is in the handbook somewhere.

We saw a sign warning “Caution Snow Glare in A.M.” that I’m sure you can’t see in the morning because of said glare. My favorite was “Thickly Settled 30 MPH”. I’m not even sure what that means.  Amid these gems were all sorts of “Slow Down”,  “Caution” and other unspecified warnings of impending doom.

When we needed a sign, like “Slow Down, Even though the Speed Limit is 112,  in Ten Feet there is a 90 Degree Curve!” or “This is the Last Place to Turn in 400 Miles”, there are none to be found.

Another fun thing they like to do in the Northeast in general, is post a measurement on a bridge that is a foot lower than in reality. More than once we have been on a two lane road in the country, with no hope of turning around and come across a bridge that says 12'9" ( we are 13'6") and this on a designated truck route! The first time it happened we stopped on the shoulder, scratching our heads, but luckily another trucker came up beside us and said it was really 13'6". We let him go first just to make sure! These signs are even on I-95 in New York City and there is definitely no where to get around them there. One day I’m going to find out why they do this.

We picked up a load in Clinton, MA at Weetabix. They make breakfast cereals under the name Millville. Weetabix is a company in the UK and their cereal looks like Shredded Wheat in the shape of a McDonald’s hash-brown. Why am I telling you this?  Because you never know when this is going to come up on Jeopardy! or Trivial Pursuit. While I’m at it, Smuckers owns Folgers and Garanimals is in Louisiana.

The Wachusett Reservoir is in Clinton and it was a real pretty drive coming here from Boston. Here are some interesting facts from the Town of Clinton website. And when you win big on Jeopardy!, remember me.

*The oldest baseball diamond in the world is Fuller Field in Clinton, which has been proven to have hosted baseball from 1878 to the present day.

*Clinton's Colonial Press was the first publishing company to get the Warren Commission Report out into the hands of the public.

*Mark Twain once lectured here in 1869. Twain spoke to Clintonians about his travels to the Sandwich Islands. He stayed at the Clinton House, a well-known hotel on the corner of High and Church Streets. Thanks to a dusty bed and a barking dog, Twain was very glad to leave.

*Agnes Moorehead, famous for her role as Endora on TV's "Bewitched", was born in Clinton.

*Screen windows did not exist until The Clinton Wire Cloth Company began manufacturing woven metal in 1856.

*The Clinton Light Guard was the forerunner to today's National Guard unit, organized with 50 local men in 1853.

*The last stone was set in place in the Wachusett Dam on June 24, 1905 by John Mercer, who also laid the first stone in place in June of 1901.

*The Wachusett Dam is actually 240 feet in height. However, we only see about half of it, as 125 of those feet lie below ground.