SUNRISE IN VERMONT, Part 1

Despite last night's drizzle and hysteria we did sleep and awakened early the next morning to a bright and beautiful sky, steeled ourselves for the day, bathed in front of God and everyone else in the neighborhood (did I mention the front door was glass?), gulped massive quantities of coffee, and attacked our cleaning project.  When BC accepts a mission, he becomes quite detailed--often to the point of obsessiveness--but two hours later, the fridge looked like new, Mr. Coffee was stain free, and every horizontal surface, while not exactly gleaming, was scoured.  The floors were swept, the sink cleaned, the trash emptied and there was happiness in our souls.  Unfortunately, it was only at this moment that I noticed a note on the fridge asking that only "natural" cleaning products be used in this cottage to protect the lake.  Uh Oh!  I'm normally pretty environmental so, obviously, I felt rather badly for a moment or two, but after promising not to repeat the mistake we moved on to the rest of the day.

As a reward for our efforts, we gathered our AAA books and maps plus a few other essentials and hit the road for Middlebury, VT.  Over the course of the next two weeks, we visited Middlebury frequently.  It was an easy twenty minute drive, and proved to be our quintessential Vermont town.  Yes, there was a steeple on the Congregational Church.  Yes, there were colonial homes here and there plus streets lined with historic buildings.  Shady parks with walking paths, a delightful creek, and a nearly 200 year old inn added atmosphere galore.  Middlebury College is a large presence in the community.  The trees on its picture perfect campus were just beginning to turn toward autumn as students were moving into dorms accompanied by teary-eyed moms and heavily laden dads carrying box piled on box.  If you're obsessed by New England as I am, it was a portrait of my daydreams. Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" echoed in my ears as we walked here and there while luxuriating in the atmosphere.  Well, maybe it was only me luxuriating in the atmosphere.  BC said it was pretty but, in reality, he was hungry and looking for a restaurant.

When we travel, we're big on substantial, late-ish lunches.  That generally holds us for the day although we might break down and snack a bit in the evening.  Over the course of our various lunches in Middlebury, we sat up very straight and used our best manners among the well-dressed patrons of the 187 year-old Middlebury Inn.  We kicked back and relaxed at the Storm Cafe located in an old mill on Otter Creek...much more a river than a creek in my eyes.  And finally, BC found his favorite of all favorites for the entire trip when we happened upon The Farmers' Diner.  There, we simply gorged ourselves on meat, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, chocolate pie and whatever else was put in front of us.  He was so happy, he was giddy for the rest of that day.

Middlebury was also home to the nearest large grocery store, so we stopped in to shop.  We bought cereal and fruit, then snuck into cheese, crackers, various dips, chips and nuts.  We moved farther down the "low fat" scale when we approached the frozen pizza.  Honest to God, we had never before bought a frozen pizza.  We bought two.  We moved on to ice-cream, popcorn and other forbidden items before finally pulling up to the check-out stand.  With only a slight bit of sticker shock (rural Vermont is not urban Arizona), we hurried back to the Nest so that nothing would melt or spoil, then unloaded it all--with great pleasure--into our sparkling refrigerator.  This had turned into a good day and it was actually about to get better!

The sun was just beginning to set over New York's Adirondack Mountains. Our Lake Champlain (viewed through the trees) was smooth as glass (trite but true) and reflected the setting sun perfectly.  We hurridly sliced cheese, set out crackers and dip, poured a little wine and moved out to our tiny deck. The evening became quieter and more peaceful  as the sun fell below the horizon and  conversation flowed effortlessly.  Vacations are definitely a different time.  Even though we're retired (vacation every day...right?) we are very busy with activities, classes, meetings, housework and all the etc's. that populate life.  This was pretty close to heaven.  The magic came from many sources, but as the water gently lapped against the shore and the light gradually faded we began to feel this trip to Vermont had really been a good decision as had the renting--am I really saying this?--of our cozy quirky little cottage.