My fellow Olympians,
It is me again and I got nothing to say that would even remotely qualify for on
topic except that I can?t wait to have my pixies developed, so I can see if I
did a good job on the Vermont foliage. Yes, I took exactly one picture of it
and if I did a good job, it would be one of the best ones I ever taken. But if
I missed, it is going to be a piss poor attempt.
We spent three days in VT. AG, you might consider going there. It is pretty
and clean. There is no comparison between there and the state of Misery we ran
away from (have you been to St. Louis?). They can keep their dirty capitalists
there that have sold their souls several times before were even born. Go to VT
and see capitalism done almost right. First thing you notice is how good the
condition of the roads is (yes it is a poor state but you?ll be amazed). Then
you would notice the total absence of billboards. Instead, there is kind of
uniformity when it comes to signs. Someone actually bothered to tastefully
design them, bothered to design cute maps (not to scale, beware?) and this is
how you promote businesses. Does it work, yes. Does it work outside of New
England? No. Fugly billboards, distasteful signs. Neon colors. Hillbillies
(they kinda look like the signs?). Last thing I remember when leaving St.
Louis was McDonalds with a giant blown up statue of an ape on top of it in one
of most respectful areas in the city (as respectful as it gets there?). It was
just as tall as the store itself?
Another thing to notice is that each business actually bothers to design its
signs and logos, you wont see plastic banners there?especially on an old
historical building.
We went to conquer Mt. Mansfield, the highest peak in VT. Make no mistake, it
is not Matterhorn in any sense, but the path we choose is challenging for
some?my wife included. Why do I tell you this? I am telling you this, because
I am happy. This is the first time in twelve years when I was able to conquer
a peak ( a semi-real one). First, we attempted to climb Mt. Washington in NH
in 1998, but the conditions quickly detiorated and had to run for cover. Then
last summer we attempted to climb Mt. Mansfield, the same we did this year, but
my wife chickened out, when she had to jump over a deep crack in the rock.
This time it was three of us, with our almost eight years old son. It was a
big event. Wify overcame her fears, it was offspring?s first peak and it was
my first peak in US.
Vermontians are slow, I mean they like to take their time. While driving
(slow) if they need to turn, they turn the blinker waaaaaay in advance. For
some reason, I can kinda stereotype the man as having a lot of facial hair and
driving an older Volvo station wagon. Women are not afraid to show gray. Nice
real people.
The only SUV?s I saw were those of the city folks that came for leaf peeping.
Der Wagen I drive, was at home as there were roads on which two Wagens would
barely pass. Funny, even when we go camping, this car was more than enough,
with the fourth member of the family coming, we are investing in the Thule
system. I never felt need to have a stinker, even during the winter?
But?I am still concerned. Der Wagen was not that fortunate this weekend. Its
beauty was tarnished by a small accident. It was at night and suddenly there
was a black dawg in front of the car. I usually look for animals bigger than
Der Wagen, but this was a surprise even for me. When I saw it, it was about
three meters in front of the car. Slammed on the brakes, but still hit him
with the passenger side of the bumper. Stopped and looked at the car, then
went to look for him, but it was dark and I was sure that he was in doggie
heaven. Suddenly, I heard something like a chain dragging and it was coming
towards me. Poor crazy bastard resurrected and was coming for a revenge. I
started running towards the car, but he closed fast on me. Suddenly I saw a
black shadow passing me by?In Bulgaria there is a saying that God protects the
mad. I guess I saw the proof.
By the way, speaking of animals, I am proud to announce that I finally met with
the VT cows. They are very curious creatures and am sure if they knew how to
talk, they would have asked many questions. We stopped by a farm so I can take
a picture of the typical landscape of rolling hills with the grazing cows in
the foreground. I guess it has been a while since they have seen a human
without facial hair, because when they saw me, they hurried to investigate.
They looked more like the ones I have seen in Europe, nice and slim. The ones
in the Midwest are fat monsters and have at least three times the size.
Many signs promised that I would finally have an encounter with Moose, but
Moose was nowhere to be seen.
The sign I was puzzled the most with, was the one saying ?Low Flying
Airplanes?. It was an yellow diamond shaped.
And yes, I am proud to announce that have conquered another body of water. I
was allowed by the relatives to have fun for about an hour and some change in
the waters of Waterbury reservoir. It took me that much to swim through half
of it back and fourth. It is Cocktober, so it was a little chilly, but I was
all right, the Wagen has heated seats, nozzles and rearview mirrors, absolute
necessities for winter times when car is left at the trailhead (this not to be
mistaken with 4WD, popular notion amongst people living in hot, humid and flat
places, but soooo wrong). A sip of red Portuguese wine helped too. When it
comes to low temperatures, my tolerance is pretty high, but unfortunately, this
is not the case with the hot humid weather of Americas. I am curious if South
America is as humid. For someone coming from a place where the temperatures
rarely exceed 83F during the summer with virtually nonexistent humidity, the
weather here is a shock.
I think the peak for a peek at our leaves would be this coming weekend. I am
going to think about places where I can go and record the beauty of the fall.
I hope this time to take more than one picture.
It is going to be an interesting digest for me as most of it would be this
mail, but I do not mind, because do not remember what I wrote and also am going
to have fun reading it and reliving the nice memories.
Boris
P.S. I took several more pixies with the OMies, but they were not of the
foliage.
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