The Road to Peru

Peru, Massachusetts is one of the Berkshires best kept secrets...in fact, some would seek to keep it that way.

My first welcome to the town whose largest attractions include a Mass Highway Department garage, a town hall (approximately the size of a shoe box), and a Methodist Church (slightly larger than said shoe box); was a stately white sign proclaiming "Welcome to Peru" with a bumper sticker offering the following admonition, "If I were you, I'd turn back now."

If I told you I didn't seriously take this warning as a sign from God that perhaps my trip was ill-fated or misplanned, or perhaps my preparations or provisions too few--I'd be lying. The truth is all these thoughts crept through my consciousness, and after the night I had just passed I found myself saying, "It's not too late, you can still turn back."

And as I sat there pondering the meaning of that bumper sticker, I realized that I was facing my first moment of truth--do I press forward and continue the climb, or do I turn back and live to ride another day?

To fully appreciate my dilemma, you should know how my journey began...