Post by Grubb. One of the exhibits of 19th century life at the Shelburne was a demonstration of how an old printing press worked. This was fascinating to me because the press that was being used was exactly like the cast iron monstrosity that I grew up with in Chicago…except the one I remember taking…
Speaking of fear…
Post by Grubb. How about this bird’s eye view of a turkey buzzard ready to dive-bomb a farm? It’s an Andrew Wyeth painting from the early 1950s. I can imagine Miss Nancy Lawson looking at it while she puzzles over the mention of Wyeth’s anxiety over Cold War mutual destruction.
You don’t see many of these anymore
Post by Grubb. On this day of the unmentionable Italian explorer it’s only fitting that, in my Shelburne Museum ramble, I would find myself pausing to look at a collection of wooden figures that used to stand out front of 19th century cigar stores. The best, I thought, was the lighted action figure, a blatant…
1843
Post by Grubb. That’s the year it was all over for Miss Nancy Lawson. She was a follower of William Miller, an early 19th-century religious leader who believed the world would end at that time. There is a portrait of Miss Lawson painted by William Matthew Prior that hangs in the Webb Gallery at the…
A thousand decoys
Post by Ella. 756 carved wildfowl decoys. A few hundred more in storage. “Night at the Museum” (the film where all the creatures on display come alive to cause havoc at night) flashed through my brain. Roughly carved ducks, swans, geese, herons, egrets and more filled the glass display cases crowded into the small rooms where…
Maple everything
Post by Ella. Maple sugar, maple filled chocolate, maple syrup, maple creemee, maple covered pepitas, maple infused olive oil, maple gin, maple chipotle hot sauce. Vermont’s state motto should be “No such thing as too much maple”. Late in the afternoon today we ducked down to the Church Street Marketplace in downtown Burlington to browse…
Dog is great
Post by Grubb. Leaving the White Mountains behind us in the morning mist, we came across a curious form of worship up in the hills outside of St. Johnsbury. (St. Johnsbury is in Vermont, but remember, this is a parallel universe so state borders as we know them may not exist.) Another aspect of experiencing…
Life in Randolph
Post by Ella. Sometimes I am lucky enough to meet an AirBnB host who is not a property management company, who has not asked us to strip the sheets or take out the garbage, and who genuinely seems to care if we enjoyed our stay. Whether owned by a person or a company, most AirBnB…
Slow in Stowe
Post by Ella. “There is a 10 minute slowdown in three miles. You are still on the fastest route.”, Google Maps chirped happily as we neared Stowe, Vermont yesterday. Just 1/2 mile from the town, we joined the stop-and-go line up on the one lane Route 100 heading into Stowe. No road construction, no accident….
Portal with no peepers
Post by Grubb. Even in the rain the White Mountains have been an explosion of warm colors. When we arrived on Friday I expected the forests to be swarming with people, more commonly known as peepers, mesmerized by the autumn foliage. Where did they all go? Did we leave (no pun intended) them in Maine?…
Westward to maple creamees, maple sugar, maple syrup
Post by Ella. From Randolph, New Hampshire to Burlington, Vermont. We stopped in Lancaster to admire another covered bridge, St. Johnsbury for the Dog Chapel on Dog Mountain, and some coffee, then on to Stowe for a walk around this busy town, then finally came to what is to be our home for the next…
Bog slopping, rock hopping, gnarled root tripping, dodgy brook crossing
Post by Ella. No one told me that hiking in the White Mountains could be so much…fun? And this time of year, all those rocks and roots the White Mountains are famous for, are concealed by layers of leaves. Nature’s finest art, those colorful leaves fallen from tall birches and maples, hide the treachery beneath….
Halloween hike
Post by Grubb. When does a hike become a fright? You start off by only reading the first sentence describing the trail in the guidebook. The one that says the 3-4 mile Dome Mountain Trail is “one of the most rewarding walks in the Randolph area.” Then you say to yourself, “That sounds great to…
And then the rains came
Post by Ella. I’m sitting on the covered, screened-in porch of our rustic cabin, appreciating the sound of gentle rain on birch and maple leaves with the mountains barely visible through the clouds. We got a swell but boggy hike in this morning before, as the weather app predicted, the rains started at 11:00 a.m….
This morning’s sunrise brought to you by the White Mountains of New Hampshire
Post by Ella. Our rustic cottage (or maybe it’s a cabin, dunno, what’s the difference? Marc, does the Cape have any wisdom on that?) comes with a view. Just after sunrise this morning, all was bathed in a purple, red, yellow glow.