Lake Champlain
Oakledge Park
Burlington, VT
July 2007
Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT
2 Replies
Author Archives: Diana
Views and Brews
A month from now I will be back home in Vermont, filling up on all the necessities that I have been missing – fresh air, hearing cows moo-ing when I wake up, dirt roads, creemees, microbrews, mama’s cookin’, four wheeling, canoeing, hiking and just gazing at the mountains. I think the mountains and breweries are what I miss the most, besides my grandmother.
Last week, one of my co-workers just got back from his vacation in his home state of Massachusetts. He brought me back an edition of the Yankee Brew News. Apparently, I have been living under a rock since I’ve never heard of this paper… I’ve been missing out.
The first article I see immediately grabs my attention “Beer and Hiking”. Well that sounds pretty darn right to me. Views and Brews, created by Tom Rankin, reaches out to others like me who love hiking and beer. The main objective is to visit breweries and hike (at least a mile) one of the mountains / trails nearby. If you complete x amount (as listed on the site), you become eligible to receive a patch. There are different patches for each state (NY, VT, RI, NH, CT, NJ, WV, MA, ME, DE, PA) and even Quebec. This really gives you something to aim for, see the views from a few different peaks and try out a few different brews.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there!
What’s This Coming From The Sky?
This past Saturday night, we were driving home from spending time with friends. It’s about 11:30pm and the car says its 94 degrees outside, and the AC is going, as usual. Pretty soon, we can smell this faint, musty, wet scent.
Sy leans over, “Do you smell that?”
Me: “Yea, what is that?”. I wasn’t really paying attention but once he said something, he had my full attention.
Sy laughs. “Man, you really have forgotten what it is. It’s rain! It just rained.”
Sure enough, it was the smell that rain leaves behind on those hot days. It’s been so long since it’s rained here that I’ve forgotten what it is, what it looks like, smells like. I had just been saying two days prior if it rained I probably wouldn’t even know what it is.
We kept driving, two miles up the road. RAIN DROPS! Holy Moly! I was seriously like a child for about 10 seconds, because that’s how long those rain drops lasted – 10 seconds.
We get home. The car now says 90 degrees and its midnight. I get out of the car. It’s sprinkling. It’s miraculous! It’s what Texas needs after its 14 – well, I lost count – days in a row of over 100 degree hell… I mean heat. I stood there for a minute trying to take it in because who knows when I would see it again.
Today – the high was expected to only be 98! Thank Heavens!
Welcome to Texas in July!