High & Clear, Down & Dirty

Burlington, VT
42 28.12 N 073 13.35 W

We visited our friends Bob & Carol the other day. We offered to take them for a day sail. They countered with an offer to go mountain climbing. We took the climb.

It has been many years since we were at the summit of an Adirondack mountain (or any other mountain for that matter). So it was a special treat to see the world from the summit of Coon Mountain. The day was fairly clear, so we could see a long distance -- Adirondack high peaks to the East and Green Mountains to the West. At our feet was the southern part of Lake Champlain. Best of all though was a pastoral view of a farm right below us with rolls of cut hay dotted around the fields. Thank you Bob & Carol.

Click to see full size. Note the hay field.

Cool how the trees adapt to the prevailing wind.

The four of us at the summit.

Yesterday, Jenny invited me to go kayaking with her. That was a special treat because we very seldom get to do father-daughter things together. We drove down to Vergennes, put the kayaks in to Otter Creek, at the confluence of Dead Creek and paddled up Dead Creek. It was a very hot, very hazy day so it would being out on the lake would not have been as much fun as usual.

Dead Creek offers wonderful nature, wildlife (we saw Vermont spotted moose), and isolation from man-made things. We had a great time.

After a while, I wanted to swim to cool off. That was a bit of a problem. (At least) I can't manage to dismount and mount a kayak while swimming. We pulled in to shore and dismounted. However the sucking mud on the bottom made it almost impossible to walk. Each step, our legs sunk up to our knees in the mud. I laid flag and doggy paddled through the mud to get to deep water. I went out about 200 yards but it was still only 1 foot deep. After returning my body, my bathing suit and my tee-shirt were covered with mud. Jenny was only slightly better.

On the way back, we picked some water lillys for Libby. They grow prolifically and are particularly beautiful.

Back at Jenny's house, I headed for the shower. I was amazed at the amount of dirt that streamed off my body. I think I can safely say that I've never been so down and dirty before in my life. Still, the outing was lots of fun. Thank you Jenny.

Vermont black and white spotted moose escape from the heat.

The crew

The bouquet