If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

– Henry David Thoreau

What was the most popular book in America the year you were born?

If you were born between 1930 and 2016, find out what Americans were reading the year…

Historic landowners map of Southington, CT from 1869

Vintage landowners map of Southington, Connecticut as it used to be

Beautiful bird’s eye view of Wolcotville (Torrington), Connecticut from 1877

This old map shows Wolcotville (now Torrington), Connecticut in the late 19th century.

Never run away from anything. Never!

One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it…

Historic old map shows bird’s eye view of Bethel, Connecticut in 1879

Historic bird’s eye view of Bethel, Connecticut in 1879