Mud & Maple: A March Weekend in New Hampshire
Ever had one of those whirl-wind weekends? You know, the ones that just fly by? You’re leaving work on Friday afternoon and the next thing you know, you are driving back in on Monday morning! This was one such weekend for me. But I guess as the saying goes, times flies when you’re having fun!
Friday after work I met David and Evan at Boston Market in Glastonbury for dinner about 5:30ish. We were done eating close to 5:45. We stopped by the Glastonbury gluten-free bakery for dessert. Three cupcakes and $10 later, we were off to the Glastonbury High School for the opening night of Fiddler on the Roof. It started at 7:00 and originally we planned to get there about 6:30ish to get good seats up front. We pulled into the parking lot about 6:10. There were lots of cars, so we agreed as we pulled in that we made the right decision to get there when we did – even if it was a little earlier than planned. I pulled out my two new magazines (again thank you whoever is sending me Living!! Love it!!) and Evan had his ipod. We headed in to get settled in our seats. We walked in the auditorium to find a bunch of teenagers sitting around with stacks of tape, photos, candy and bottled water. No tickets in sight. Long story short, we waited …and waited….until about 6:45 in a lobby area to get our “assigned” tickets like it was Broadway or something. Row T didn’t sound too promising, but whatever. We waited……we waited…..Evan waited more patiently than I did. The sights and sounds of teenagers running around made me so thankful that part of my life was over……what a dreadful age! About five minutes ’til 7:00 we started to file in. 7:20 the lights finally went down. I had a slight headache and a pain in the back of my neck. I was ready to go home! But as the fiddler started and the familiar songs played, I enjoyed each scene more than the last. It was a cute show and the kids did a good job. Intermission was about 9:20 and we took that opportunity to slip out. Evan none the wiser. Me dying to see the movie again!
Here’s where our seats were. We liked this photo – how Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is this?
Saturday David came and picked me up about 11:30 and we stopped to get Evan from art class. From there we headed to New Hampshire. We arrived in Westmoreland about 1:30ish. You know the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall. But in VT and NH there is a fifth season: Mud Season! It’s in March when all the snow starts to melt and the frozen ground begins to thaw. The water from all the ice flows and the dirt roads become mud roads. Everything is brown, dirty, slippery and nasty. The most derogatory thing I’ve ever heard Nancy say about New Hampshire is “I don’t particularly care for mud season”. She defends the power outages, the bats and lady bug infestations, the feet of snow & ice, the freezing windy temperatures, the distances to get anywhere….so you know it must be bad for her to say that. I had never been in March before, so this was my first experience with it. It’s name captures it all: MUD SEASON! Here’s a few shots I got while out walking on Saturday. (We were there early, so this was not bad at all – end of March is much worse as temps get higher.)
It was warmer than it had been in months, but I was still cold and my ears were bothering me. Maybe it was a little Fiddler on the Roof carry-over, but I made it through with all my layers, pants rolled up and head covered with my scarf! Classic look:
Along with the warmer weather and all the mud in March, the trees are starting to come back to life and that means maple syrup time! I’ve tasted the syrup, but I had never seen the start of the process in person. From what I remember, they drill holes in the bark of the maple trees and the clear sap comes out (thin like water). The plastic tubes are strung from tree to tree and collected in large tubs. The sap is then boiled and this first batch is a sweeter, thinner grade. It is boiled down again for a thicker and deeper taste. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
Before 1940, people collected the sap in buckets by drilling a hole into the tree and pounding in a wooden tube for the bucket to hang from. Some are still collected this way:
That night Nancy and George took us out to one of my FAVORITE places in New England: The Chesterfield Inn! (www.chesterfieldinn.com) Dinner was SO GOOD! (Mary, that’s the place that we went when you were here.) From the pepper muffin to the maple-dressed salad to the fresh grouper with veggies, every last bite was gone! I loved it all! We then we all ended the night with a really delicious gluten-free chocolate cake! Nancy and George gave me a very generous gift that I can’t wait to use! Thank you so much! I am always amazed and so thankful for your CONSTANT acceptance and love and kindness….you treat me as though I’m part of your family and it’s so much more than I could ever thank you for. But there was another surprise! Jackie (Nancy’s Marsha) sent me a sweet birthday card and a Vermont Life magazine will all the things to do in VT this Spring/Summer! I haven’t had a chance to read it cover to cover yet, but can’t wait to sit down with it! Probably tonight! Haley, you would find it interesting (if you don’t have it already). The cover has Middlebury restaurants, and I as I flipped through the photos, I was like “OH, I’ve been there…I’ve been there!!” If you want to check it out, the link for the magazine is here: http://www.vtlife.com. For 35 Places Everyone Who Loves VT Should Visit: http://www.vtlife.com/pdf/32_Places.pdf. Thank you so much! What a nice surprise! Maybe David and I can meet you for lunch somewhere sometime in VT! (I will DEFINITELY be making some trips to VT and crossing my fingers that Haley is coming back, so I can make that BEAUTIFUL drive again!) What a fun day…..
Sunday after church, we had lunch and Nancy and I went out for a walk in the sun. We were heading down the dirt….I mean mud….road, feet squishing with each step, when Nancy said, “Do you want to go that way?” “That way???” I thought. “Sure,” I said out loud. And off the road of mud to the trail of snow we went. “My $8 Wal-mart tennis shoes are going to get soaked and I’m going to lose a toe!”, I thought. “Yes, you’re right, it is beautiful”, I said out loud. But as we walked and I got used to the footing, each step was more and more fun. We looked at the animal prints (all sorts of dogs, deer, racoon, tennis shoes and even snow-shoe tracks) and enjoyed the sun shining down through the trees, listened to the spots where the water was rushing into little streams - just taking it all in. Everything was so peaceful. We talked and looked and listened and crunched all along the trail until we got to a stone house at the top of the hill with an AMAZING VIEW! Trees all around….just gorgeous. “The man who lives there helicopters in,” Nancy said. We headed back down the hill and back to the dirt road. My shoes were completely dry: no frost-bitten toes for me. And about half way back we saw the helicopter right over our heads just as Nancy had said! Such a nice day, a good memory, a perfect way to end the visit. I was glad we veered off to the road less traveled! Here’s a few photos I took:
We piled in the car and headed back to Connecticut. I was antsy all the way….couldn’t wait to get to the Oscars and all that was preceeding it! With MUCH disappointment I watched….and watched…and watched. Until a little after midnight I watched…..Let me start on a positive: I LOVED the set!! LOVED IT! I hated the opening. Where was the “movie” opening? I found Steve boring and Alec looked so nervous, he was making me nervous. This was the funny duo I had been waiting for? The “obvious” choices won until the end that is. (Side note: I thought The Hurt Locker really was good – very tense! I was glad that Sandra won. What a great movie! I’m still a little scared to start “Precious”. I’ll have to work up the courage for that one. Jeff Bridges was good and deserved to win. Even Christoph Waltz, painful as the movie might have been to sit through, was pretty good!) I have to say I didn’t think anyone looked particularly amazing. Brad and Angelina were a no-show. …But I can assure you I’ll be right there just as excited next year to see what happens!
And now it’s Monday again. Back to the routine. My last week at 34. My last week to be “young“. I’ll soon be on the other side of 30 rolling toward 40 with the 50′s gaining on me! But each passing day I am more confident and secure that I am where I’m suppose to be: for such a time as this. More and more ready to move to the next chapter. More and more grateful for the abundance of God’s grace, my family’s love and support and an exponentially growing hope for a full and productive future. Bring it 35, I’m ready!
Here’s where our seats were. We liked this photo – how Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is this?
Saturday David came and picked me up about 11:30 and we stopped to get Evan from art class. From there we headed to New Hampshire. We arrived in Westmoreland about 1:30ish. You know the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall. But in VT and NH there is a fifth season: Mud Season! It’s in March when all the snow starts to melt and the frozen ground begins to thaw. The water from all the ice flows and the dirt roads become mud roads. Everything is brown, dirty, slippery and nasty. The most derogatory thing I’ve ever heard Nancy say about New Hampshire is “I don’t particularly care for mud season”. She defends the power outages, the bats and lady bug infestations, the feet of snow & ice, the freezing windy temperatures, the distances to get anywhere….so you know it must be bad for her to say that. I had never been in March before, so this was my first experience with it. It’s name captures it all: MUD SEASON! Here’s a few shots I got while out walking on Saturday. (We were there early, so this was not bad at all – end of March is much worse as temps get higher.)
It was warmer than it had been in months, but I was still cold and my ears were bothering me. Maybe it was a little Fiddler on the Roof carry-over, but I made it through with all my layers, pants rolled up and head covered with my scarf! Classic look:
Along with the warmer weather and all the mud in March, the trees are starting to come back to life and that means maple syrup time! I’ve tasted the syrup, but I had never seen the start of the process in person. From what I remember, they drill holes in the bark of the maple trees and the clear sap comes out (thin like water). The plastic tubes are strung from tree to tree and collected in large tubs. The sap is then boiled and this first batch is a sweeter, thinner grade. It is boiled down again for a thicker and deeper taste. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
Before 1940, people collected the sap in buckets by drilling a hole into the tree and pounding in a wooden tube for the bucket to hang from. Some are still collected this way:
That night Nancy and George took us out to one of my FAVORITE places in New England: The Chesterfield Inn! (www.chesterfieldinn.com) Dinner was SO GOOD! (Mary, that’s the place that we went when you were here.) From the pepper muffin to the maple-dressed salad to the fresh grouper with veggies, every last bite was gone! I loved it all! We then we all ended the night with a really delicious gluten-free chocolate cake! Nancy and George gave me a very generous gift that I can’t wait to use! Thank you so much! I am always amazed and so thankful for your CONSTANT acceptance and love and kindness….you treat me as though I’m part of your family and it’s so much more than I could ever thank you for. But there was another surprise! Jackie (Nancy’s Marsha) sent me a sweet birthday card and a Vermont Life magazine will all the things to do in VT this Spring/Summer! I haven’t had a chance to read it cover to cover yet, but can’t wait to sit down with it! Probably tonight! Haley, you would find it interesting (if you don’t have it already). The cover has Middlebury restaurants, and I as I flipped through the photos, I was like “OH, I’ve been there…I’ve been there!!” If you want to check it out, the link for the magazine is here: http://www.vtlife.com. For 35 Places Everyone Who Loves VT Should Visit: http://www.vtlife.com/pdf/32_Places.pdf. Thank you so much! What a nice surprise! Maybe David and I can meet you for lunch somewhere sometime in VT! (I will DEFINITELY be making some trips to VT and crossing my fingers that Haley is coming back, so I can make that BEAUTIFUL drive again!) What a fun day…..
Sunday after church, we had lunch and Nancy and I went out for a walk in the sun. We were heading down the dirt….I mean mud….road, feet squishing with each step, when Nancy said, “Do you want to go that way?” “That way???” I thought. “Sure,” I said out loud. And off the road of mud to the trail of snow we went. “My $8 Wal-mart tennis shoes are going to get soaked and I’m going to lose a toe!”, I thought. “Yes, you’re right, it is beautiful”, I said out loud. But as we walked and I got used to the footing, each step was more and more fun. We looked at the animal prints (all sorts of dogs, deer, racoon, tennis shoes and even snow-shoe tracks) and enjoyed the sun shining down through the trees, listened to the spots where the water was rushing into little streams - just taking it all in. Everything was so peaceful. We talked and looked and listened and crunched all along the trail until we got to a stone house at the top of the hill with an AMAZING VIEW! Trees all around….just gorgeous. “The man who lives there helicopters in,” Nancy said. We headed back down the hill and back to the dirt road. My shoes were completely dry: no frost-bitten toes for me. And about half way back we saw the helicopter right over our heads just as Nancy had said! Such a nice day, a good memory, a perfect way to end the visit. I was glad we veered off to the road less traveled! Here’s a few photos I took:
We piled in the car and headed back to Connecticut. I was antsy all the way….couldn’t wait to get to the Oscars and all that was preceeding it! With MUCH disappointment I watched….and watched…and watched. Until a little after midnight I watched…..Let me start on a positive: I LOVED the set!! LOVED IT! I hated the opening. Where was the “movie” opening? I found Steve boring and Alec looked so nervous, he was making me nervous. This was the funny duo I had been waiting for? The “obvious” choices won until the end that is. (Side note: I thought The Hurt Locker really was good – very tense! I was glad that Sandra won. What a great movie! I’m still a little scared to start “Precious”. I’ll have to work up the courage for that one. Jeff Bridges was good and deserved to win. Even Christoph Waltz, painful as the movie might have been to sit through, was pretty good!) I have to say I didn’t think anyone looked particularly amazing. Brad and Angelina were a no-show. …But I can assure you I’ll be right there just as excited next year to see what happens!
And now it’s Monday again. Back to the routine. My last week at 34. My last week to be “young“. I’ll soon be on the other side of 30 rolling toward 40 with the 50′s gaining on me! But each passing day I am more confident and secure that I am where I’m suppose to be: for such a time as this. More and more ready to move to the next chapter. More and more grateful for the abundance of God’s grace, my family’s love and support and an exponentially growing hope for a full and productive future. Bring it 35, I’m ready!
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