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Merriams and Fields

   Two families in town that I was very close to were the    Merriams and the Fields. The Merriams lived at the junction of Concord Road and Merriam Street in a house dominated by Grampa Merriam, a picturesque man with a long white beard.   You would often see him walking absent-mindedly along the Sidewalk on his way to Cherry Brook Station — or maybe driving his horse down to the Golf Club for a round of golf with Uncle Andrew Fiske. These rounds were not particularly appreciated    by golfers, because neither he nor Uncle Andrew could hit a ball very far and on weekends they got in everyone's way.
   When Grampa walked to Cherry Brook Station, his family    were never sure when he might walk back again — perhaps the same day or perhaps weeks later. He never told anyone where    he was going and, as he was a poor correspondent, the only    news to reach home came from friends who happened to run     into him somewhere. Once my Grandfather Dickson was sitting    on the porch of a hotel in Switzerland watching a group of

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