Sunlight in Vermont

Here is the boy enjoying one of my favorite spots in the world - a swimming hole in Vermont known as Paradise...

A few minutes later, he was naked and up to his knees in freezing cold water for the Ceremonial Throwing of Rocks Into the River. I won't post those...well, maybe just one, but not today!

This is the classic 'what should I post for Robin's summer stock thing? What is Summer to me? Lying on my back in the grass, staring at the sky, that's what it is...' Turn head to right, frame and shoot.

I liked this, it almost made me feel like a real photographer again, so I decided to take it a step further...

And I really like this one! There's a couple more of them, but I think this is my favorite. Now, on to the words...

We left at the beginning of a torrential downpour...the Volvo did it's ususal worst, sliding all over the road in a manner very unlike a Subaru. And get this! There is a light on the dashboard that lights up to tell me that I'm hydroplaning! Yeah! It distracts me from the very thing that it's warning me to pay attention to! Who's genius engineering idea was this? Whatever. I had a Seattle moment an hour or so into the ride - there's this bridge, an open, arched design that the highway takes you under, and it looks like those bridges outside Olympia, where we got on the highway out there, except those were larger, and had Mt. Rainier towering above them to the right...and what occured to me was how aware I was that I was NOT in Seattle (even with all the rain!). I often forget where in the world I am if I space out while driving, and here was a prime moment to panic - but for the lack of that giant white looming Buddha mountain off to the right, that imposing presence, watching. Maybe waiting. Nope. I was nowhere near Seattle...

Eventually, we made it through to clearer skies, small boy asleep in the back most of the way, my spirits lifting with every sunny mile. Aah... My cell phone cut out. Yaay... Spent the week blissing out on Positive Pie pizza, Coffee Corner breakfasts, creemees, and Paradise. Laying in the grass. I even got to go to a show! My friend's husband wanted to go see the New York Dolls, and asked her if she could get tickets to the show at Higher Ground - she's the music director at the community radio staton WGDR ( http://www.wgdr.org/ ), so she got two tickets, backstage passes, and the possibility of an interview and/or a station ID from some of the band members. Too bad she sent her husband and me! He knew how to work the incredibly technically advanced recording device, but got very drunk very quickly, and I was not prepared to interview the New York Dolls solo, while making an ass of myself fiddling with a device beyond my range of knowledge.

So, oh well. I was disappointed - but the show was GREAT! I LOVED IT! What showmanship! What style! What a cute bass player! Great new venue, too, Higher Ground. I mean, it's been there for years, but they got a new building which is cool - I think there were two shows happening that night, the old place had only the one stage. Good for them.

So yeah. It was a good 'vacation', though I don't feel particularly rested or anything. It was wonderful to be in Vermont, and dig the vibe in Montpelier, and bring the boy to see his dad, and get to the swimming hole and say hey to friends, and eat great food, and do some fun shopping. But I think, that maybe next year, what I REALLY need, is to take myself away. To go be alone for a few days. Maybe go to a spa...or something.

I'm home, now, and back to all the stuff I just threw my hands up at and left a week ago - dishes, yucky stuff in the fridge, the staining of the furniture! Sigh. And BF is home again, but he's hangin' out with that woman, so I don't really want to be around that. Could always use the help, though...Men. What crap.

Well, guess it's time to tell my boss I'm home, and get my be-hind back to work! Sure could use a paycheck...