I ran out of food ingredients, so I head for the east to replenish my fridge and pantry.

Yes, the east, the only direction I haven’t explored so far.

This is what we know about Kingston up to this point. It’s on Route 27, with a canal running north-south in the west, a Chinese-English bilingual school in the north, and two neighboring state parks in the south. Farther to the south is Route 1, the major highway in the east coast of US.

Today, let’s go eastward. Precisely speaking, it’s north-eastward, because Route 27 doesn’t run parallel to the lines of latitude. However, in the figure above, I drew Route 27 exactly horizontally. When recalling geographical maps, humans have a tendency to mentally tilt the map so that the geographical structures of interest (such as roads) appear to be more horizontal or vertical than they actually are. Psychologists call this mental manipulation “rotation heuristics“.

Obviously, I’m not exempt from this tendency. Albeit imprecise, an illustrative map with a horizontal Route 27 looks tidier than one with a slanted Route 27. So, just let it be.

Back to the topic today. Along the east arm of route 27 (particularly on the north bank) sit a series of non-residential buildings, including a church, a music school, a kindergarten, a podiatry clinic, a Japanese art studio, and a commercial compound.

And there’s also a preserved historic site called “Jedediah Higgins House“, which now houses a …… wellness day spa center. I know it’s OK to open a business on a historic site, but a spa center and a historic building is a surprising combination for me.

On the opposite bank of route 27, there is a vast residential area called “Kingston Terrace“. Unlike the stand-alone houses in the village of Kingston, the houses in Kingston Terrace are, as its name suggests, all apartments. In comparison to the place I currently live, a compact apartment with 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and 1 kitchen which costs around $1400 a month not including water, electricity, TV, and internet sounds super expensive.

Just a little bit further, I see a sign marking the border of the village of Kingston, just like the one in the west of the village. Not far from the sign stands a conspicuous fir tree (or some genetically related species? Not sure. I’m not a botanical specialist, after all). I happened to take a picture of the tree in the snow: Standing alone by the branching point of Route 27 and Raymond Road, away from other trees, this particular fir tree can definitely serve as an ideal Christmas tree.

Though I have reached the border of the village, I still have to press on to fulfill the purpose of this trip. Just walking a few more minutes, I finally reach my destination,

 Princeton Marketplace

which on the Google map is labeled as

Kingston Mall

which is also known as the

Amish Farmer’s Market

According to Wikipedia,

The Amish are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology.

I have heard of the Amish long before I came to the US, and this overall statement on Wikipedia is all I know about them. I don’t know the extent to which the Amish decline modern technology, but at least the Amish who sell things in this market are fine with fridges, and take credit cards. Perhaps this is the compromise they make in order to interact with the outside world.

I wonder if the Amish decline smart phones altogether. If they do, I revere them and congratulate them for escaping the sinister addictive gadget.

One can find all ingredients that make a decent meal. Meat, seafood, milk, fruits, eggs, cheese, vegetables, breads, desserts, candies, and even an elegant dining table. Besides raw ingredients, there’s also a stand selling hot Amish snacks. The ladies working at the stand are not cosplaying puritans, they are wearing their everyday outfit.

The market itself only opens on Thursday through Saturday. Having to work on weekdays, I can only go to the market on Saturdays. But there are other facilities in Princeton Marketplace that open on a daily basis, including a Sushi house, a Chinese restaurant, a fitness center, and a gaming center. Sadly, there’s no infra-red shooting arcade game, which is my favorite, in the gaming center.

As one can tell from the Google map, this is probably

the most interesting place around Kingston.

On my way back, I notice something being sold at the corner of the parking lot of the marketplace.

Dozens of cute tiny houses.

The marketplace is where farmers sell things to non-farmers, but the target customers of these tiny houses are the farmers themselves.

These are the chicken coops.

Too bad that such cute houses are for chickens. If reinforced with insulation, heating, lighting, foam floor tiles, and internet connection, can these coops make cozy reading rooms or kids’ playrooms?

Sounds like a good idea. Someday in the future, when I have my own house and (unfortunately) kids, I’ll assemble a chicken coop in the house and transform it into a snug room for the baby.

But that’s a dream for the far future. It’s more practical to think about what I can make out of the ingredients I buy today.