On we forged that lovely late-spring day of full sunshine and warmth toward our old haunts, the two Parker-French group shops selling everything from memorabilia collectibles to antiques, and paintings and downright junk. Memorabilia of all descriptions and junk predominates almost everywhere we stop but that is not unusual. What keeps antique hunters on the prowl is the thought that somewhere unexpected there will pop up something that calls out to be taken home as a treasured possession.

That instinct lurking in the souls of all collectors, no matter what it is they claim to be focused on, is what keeps all these establishments in business. Over the decades we've been hiking in the forested mountain trails of the state and pursuing the scent of antiques and paintings, we've seen quite a few purveyors of good quality antiques shut down, to our great regret, and no doubt theirs as well when making a decent living off the avails of what is available for sale just doesn't come to fruition. That, and the fact that respectably good antiques are harder to find on the market. Added to which is that when they're available, their rarity prices them accordingly, often placing them out of financial reach of those with limited means and collecting aspirations.

So we perused Parker-French, the two large sprawling one-story buildings sitting side-by-side. We're interested in much that we see, not to acquire them, but to comment quietly with one another on what we think of what we're confronting. Which, truth to tell, isn't much, because the collected offerings are dismal at best. This must be a record; we've gone through four group shops this day carefully scrutinizing what's on offer, and have found absolutely nothing to excite our acquisitory interest, since most of it is rudely without intrinsic or aesthetic value.

We do pass some agreeable time chatting with the old-timers who man the front desk in the shops, and because they're of the same vintage as us, and recall us from many years past, the conversation is warm and extremely inclusive. It really is a place to greet old friends and acquaintances. And it never fails to amaze us that these laid-back people all with interesting stories of their own to tell, remember us from year to year.

As we make our way out, we decide to go a bit further, to locate an old barn standing beside a lovely old Federalist mansion, the barn painstakingly and carefully refurbished to its original state, and now housing a series of 'rooms' containing excellent 18th and 19th Century European and American furniture, prints, paintings, and objets d'art. Their prices are very fair, considering the authenticity of the objects for sale, and it's a pleasure roaming through the place, as one would an art gallery or a museum, where objects on display are decidedly not for sale.

It is there where a painting hangs that catches our attention; actually more than one painting, but this one in particular is priced within our means because it is of European, not American origin. It is a beautifully executed still-life, in the manner of the Dutch masters of the 17th and 18th Century, although it is manifestly a 'new' painting, with less than 50 years aging it. But we're taken by it, and decide we'd like to own it, and in fact soon afterward drive away with it, finally having come across an item that suited our tastes.