Kristian and I went up to Vermont this weekend to see my sister and his brother. The weather was mostly crappy, but we had a good time. It was nice to get out of the city for a weekend.
I took a bunch of photos, mostly of my sister’s dog. They are here.
Friday night we got a late start, so we made the tough decision to stop and get fast food. I convinced Kristian that we should go to Taco Bell. Oh sweet sweet Taco Bell. You are like the boys I shouldn’t date. Totally bad for me and yet oh so irresistible. I should be a spokesmodel for Taco Bell. But then, I would probably say things like “Taco Bell is full of calories. It’s totally bad for you and will probably make your stomach hurt if you eat to much of it. But god damn it’s addictive.” So, yeah, don’t expect to see me in any of their ad campaigns anytime soon.
Friday night we had a full house. My sister. Her roommate. Her roommate’s girlfriend. Her roommate’s sister. Her roommate’s sister’s friend. And all of their dogs. So many dogs. Oh god, so many dogs. Kristian would like for me to point out that he felt like he had stumbled into the Lilith Fair, what with him being the only dude and all. I think that he just needs to get in touch with his lesbian side.
We made s’mores using their wood stove, played Turbo Cranium, drank beer. The perfect quiet Friday night.
Saturday morning we got up at the ass crack of dawn. That’s a lie…. we got up at 8am. But for a lazy ass like me… It was early. We went to a sugar house though, so it was worth it. Mmmm… pancakes. [Insert Homer Simpson style drooling here].
Syrup and homefries sloshing around in our bellies, we set off for a walk. It’s nice to get out into the woods. Especially in the company of the man you love, a great sister and a pretty cute dog. Random aside… Did any of you ever play with Playmobile? My sister’s dog looks exactly like the playmobile dogs. It’s eerie. Another random aside… apparently I am mildly dyslexic or something, because I keep writing “god” instead of “dog.” The mental image of wandering through the woods with my sister’s god is totally cracking me up.
Anyways, the weather was kindof crappy, but the view was pretty impressive. I took pictures. Did I mention already that I took pictures? Pictures that can be found here. [End of shameless self promotion].
(I’m now going to skip over the boring stuff like the tasty pasta sauce that I made for dinner and the sister talk we had that evening)
Saturday night we went out to a local bar. Correction. Saturday night we went out to the local bar. It’s a pretty awesome scene. My sister’s town contains the VT Law School and a lot of farms. So there were future lawyers there in skirts and fancy skirts and there were people there in Canadian Tuxedos (all denim). Everyone hung out with everyone else. Everyone talked to everyone else. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. It was an ecclectic and friendly crowd. My kind of scene.
I thought that the band was local. They had a mandolin player and kept doing covers of Townes Van Zandt songs. Turns out they’re from New Jersey. Who knew that Central NJ was a haven for budding bluegrass musicians? Certainly not me. These guys were pretty psyched to be playing to this crowd. I guess they aren’t really very well understood by their neighbors.
They were pretty rocking. Played a shitload of awesome songs. The lead singer had a great voice. They were all great musicians. Plus they let me sit in on one of their numbers (Pancho and Lefty, an absolutely amazing tune). So that was mos def a point in their favor.
Sunday we went maple sugaring with my sister’s friend Adam. He has some friends who own a sugarbush set way back into the woods. It’s a great spot with prayer flags hung from the trees, a cute little cabin and a warm and inviting boiling area. If there is a better smell than the smell of sap being boiled into syrup, well I don’t want to know.
We went out and collected the sap from the trees. Poured it out from metal buckets into big plastic buckets and then hauled it back to a waystation where we sent it hurtling down a rubber tube into a giant collecting tank. It takes something like 43 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup… which could make it a disheartening process. Not so when you have an old hippie with you reminding you to appreciate the view. For the people we were with, sugaring seemed to be more about the process and less about the end result. It was a chance to tap some trees, sit around the fire, swap stories, boil some sap, eat some chocolate and make some syrup.
They were extremely proud of their syrup. Rightly so, it was delicious. But at the same time they were not obsessed with how much they were producing or how efficient the sap gathering went. It was refreshing to spend time in such a laid back environment. It’s why I always love visiting Vermont.
Not only did we stop to appreciate the view, we also stopped to appreciate the syrup. There is something almost orgasmic about the syrup in its just boiled state. They poured it into a little glass vial and we all had a sip. It was sweet but not overbearingly so. A light, delicate taste. A little sip of heaven. I guess that would be the definition of ambrosia.
I love Vermont.
