My Life on I-91

For the first dozen years of my professional life I worked at UMass/Amherst. Most of that time I lived in Northampton and the focus of my commuting attention was crossing the Connecticut River on the Calvin Coolidge Bridge. It was crowded even then. Fortunately, I was on a bus.

Then came a 5 year stint with Harper & Row Publishers. UMass/Amherst was my largest account and I continued to spend much time getting myself and my paperwork to the other side of the river via the Coolidge Bridge, this time in a car. UMass/Amherst was my largest account, but by no means my only account. There are lots of colleges in the Springfield area and even more in Vermont. Thus began my relationship with I-91.

In 1985, I was hired by WMRLS which was located in Hatfield at the time. Shortly after, I moved to Greenfield. For the next 13 years I spent lots of time on I-91 heading south every morning and north every evening.

When I left WMRLS, my first project as a consultant was as interim director of the Greenfield Public Library. However, I had just moved to Hatfield so I still spent much time on I-91, this time heading north every morning and south every evening.

Enter Donohue Group Inc. (DGI) which was then located in Weathersfield CT. Again it was south in the morning, but with a very different crowd of people. South of Holyoke, traffic on the highway becomes more dense and very fast and there's usually a major backup as everyone tries to negotiate around Hartford andI-84.

So I was very happy to join the CMRLS team. Even though the commute was longer by about 20 minutes and 20 miles, the drive itself was easier. I'd head south on I-91, but before things got too intense, I'd turn east onto the Mass Pike. And before things got too intense there, I'd exit. Piece of cake!

Now that I'm working independently, I have several different projects, but right now they all involve traveling on I-91. The biggest problem is remembering where I'm going on any particular day.

Last week, my schedule looked like this:
Monday and Tuesday: Springfield City Library - get off at I-291.
Wednesday and Thursday: DGI (in Windsor, Conn.) - don't get off till after I'm in Conn. (I have a few different exit options)
Friday: DGI project in Cambridge; meet colleagues at Sturbridge Park & Ride - get off at the Mass Pike.

Every morning as I enter I-91, I have to remind myself where I'm going. As I approach all of the different possible exits, I have to concentrate on staying on or getting off whichever I'm supposed to do that day. So far, I've only messed up once and it wasn't too bad. I had very carefully maneuvered myself into the left lane as I approached I-291 only to realize it was an SCL day and I was to get off there! I took the next exit and got back on course.

If only the rest of life was so easy to correct.