2. Like its counterpart IOW, Hadley sits in the middle of the only good farmland in Massachusetts, a glacial-era lakebed in the Connecticut Valley. As IOW, Polish immigrants came to work on, and eventually buy, small farms growing wrapper tobacco, potatoes, and other specialty crops. IOW, the Polish community is noticable by the lack of vowels on mailboxes, kielbasa and pierogis at agricultural fairs, and some good polka music programs on the radio. Since assimilation in the CNA is slower than in the USM or the IOW USA, even more Polish culture is evident in the this timeline's Hadley. Paula's father, like the Long Island father of her IOW namesake Carl, is a potato farmer. (Of course neither she, Carmen, nor Anna DiMaggio have any idea that they share their surnames with IOW baseball stars.)
(Return to Sunday Morning Coffee.)