In Berkshire county, Massachusetts, there are a large number of antique and second hand shops, places I had more or less ignored until a recent drive through the towns of Great Barrington and Sheffield. One place in particular caught my eye, it was a wreck of a building, and I could see from the road that the the old furniture and objects were piled, hung and stacked to the ceiling in a chaotic jumble. This deserved investigating. What I found was a fascinating hodge-podge of objects thrown together, from intimate small objects and curios to large pieces of furniture, many very old with many generations of wear on them, each with their own personality and showing signs of their long life before becoming closeted in this eccentric shop. I've since visited a few of these shops, and find them very interesting, each visit becomes a small trip into the cultural memory of New England.