Page 58 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 59 Spring 2026

WALLINGFORD, FROM ABOVE:

A PERSPECTIVE YOU DON’T SEE EVERY DAY

by Wesley Krombel
here’s something different about way that only really makes sense from
Tseeing a place from above—es- up here. No two flights look the same.
pecially a place you think you already No two days carry the same light.
know. Streets you’ve driven, walked,
run, or biked a thousand times begin Winter is quieter. I move through cold-
to connect in new ways. Neighbor- er air, above streets that feel softer un-
hoods reveal their patterns. Land- der fresh snowfall. Time seems to slow
marks feel a little more intentional during the first snow of the season. The
and history explains itself from a new town exhales a bit.
perspective. And suddenly, Walling-
ford looks less like a collection of But it’s not just the seasons. I follow the
roads and buildings, and more like CT Rail as it cuts through the center of
a story that’s been carefully laid out town, a straight line of motion through
over time. something otherwise still. I watch shad-
ows stretch longer in the evening as the
To think that, as humans, we didn’t sun drops behind familiar buildings. I
even experience flight until just over pass through fog thick enough to erase
100 years ago (with all due respect to everything but outlines, then rise just
the 19th century blimps), and now above it to find the town sitting quietly
here I am with a remote controller in underneath, unchanged.
hand, directing a small drone to take
off within seconds. Watching Wall- I’ve seen water rise after heavy storms,
ingford from this vantage point never fields shift, rooftops change, small de-
gets old. I’ve been flying drones for tails come and go. From up here, you
over five years now and am on my notice how quickly things can change—
second edition of a DJI drone that I’ve and how much stays the same.
named “Droney 2.0” (since my first
one was just Droney). So without fur- And that’s the part most people don’t
ther ado… here’s Droney 2.0 himself. get to see.

‘I rise above Mansion Road and From this height, Wallingford isn’t just
watch the hills at Blue Hills Orchards where people live. It’s something that’s
wake up in the spring—rows of trees been shaped over time—by routines, by
dusted in pink, stretching in quiet seasons, by the people moving through
lines that you’d never notice from it every day. It’s layered. It’s consistent.
the ground. By late May, I hover over It’s alive in ways that are easy to miss
North Main Street, where the town when you’re standing still.
gathers shoulder to shoulder, watch-
ing the Memorial Day parade move I just happen to be the one looking
steadily toward downtown—one down.’
long, connected moment of tradi-
tion. What started as a tool to better show-
case homes for my business has turned
Summer lifts me higher. I drift just into something more—a way to capture
above the rooftops as fireworks and appreciate the town itself and the
break open over town, close enough places I visit. And no matter how far I
to feel their rhythm, far enough to travel, no matter what landscapes my
see how they reflect across every- drone sees, I always end up back here…
thing below— while all looking up hovering over the same streets that
together. somehow never look the same twice.
Because at the end of the day, Wall-
Then fall arrives, and I head for the ingford doesn’t need much to impress.
edges of town. The denser neigh- Sometimes, it just needs a different an-
borhoods give way to open land, gle.
and suddenly Wallingford becomes a
canvas of color—deep reds, burnt or- -Wesley Krombel, Life-long Resident
anges, flashes of yellow—layered in a
58 WALLINGFORD MAGAZINE - SPRING 2026