to the woods

My wife grew up on a dairy farm not too far from Burlington, Vermont. Every few years we visit her family and stay with her mother who still lives in the family farmhouse. I always enjoy my time in Vermont. It's one of the prettiest states I've ever been to. There's also plenty to do within an easy drive of wherever you are.

The weather has been unsettled since we arrived - snow then rain followed by more snow. It keeps things interesting. This morning we woke to 20cm of fresh in the yard. It was beautiful. I had to get off my pie-scarfing, beer-swilling butt and go for a run.

I grabbed the dog and headed for the trails in the woods adjacent to the farm. Getting there involved running a very short piece of road.

Still, it was far enough to remind me of what I didn't like about running in Vermont. Narrow roads, blind corners, and no shoulders. Drivers, if you're pulling over to be nice please pull all the way into the far lane. Straddling lanes just sprays me with snud.

In contrast to the road-stress, the woods were silent. Other than a blue jay and a barred owl, the only signs of life were a few deer and coyote tracks. It was bliss.

I only had a vague sense of where I was at any given time. I came across my own tracks on a couple of occasions, which took me by surprise. There are a lot of trails in those woods and I haven't spent nearly enough time figuring out what goes where, particularly in the winter. Still, you'd have to be way out of your element to get truly lost in there so we just kept running.

We eventually reached my intended destination, a lookout my brother-in-law refers to as Indian point.You can see the Winooski River in the foreground and the shoulder of Camel's Hump blending with the skyline. We hung out in the stillness for as long as the dog could bear it, which wasn't very long, before heading back into the woods and back to the farm. I missed you Vermont.