My kids and I just spent a week in the woods in Vermont in this cabin here. No phone. No television. Barely any cellphone and that was analog only in the "big" town 10 miles away. Definitely no PC. But we had a week of uninterrupted family time. We had zillions of stars at night. We had a swimming hole in a cold mountain stream. We had fires to warm up the cool nights after days spent playing in the sun. We had the local grocery store with its limited selections and high prices which we gladly paid instead of patronizing the superstore 10 miles up the road. We had the covered bridge to the right, or the winding country road to the left each time we ventured out of camp. Rolling fields nestled between twin mountain ranges. Fields dotted with oreo cows which we do have here in NJ, but they look so much more interesting in Vermont. And I had a full week of sitting on that there deck with plain old pencil and paper, trying my best to come up with the right words to describe the place we were at and the memories it holds for me, and I failed. But these are some of my thoughts anyway.
Thanks, Mom & Dad, for finding this place 37 years ago. Thanks for packing up us three kids under the age of 8 and all the tons of stuff we needed to "survive" there before they had hot running water in the cabins. Thanks for putting up with us on those long, hot drives there and back in the days before our cars had air conditioning. Before kids had Gameboys and personal CD players and portable DVD players to distract them during the ride. And thanks for doing it again and again and again however many times we went, and for making it so much fun. Because those memories stuck, and here I am writing about what is probably my 25th return trip. Glad you could make it again this year, and you too L & J & S & G. It was a great week. And now the third generation is sharing in the memories and anxiously waiting 51 weeks for the next time.
I'd love to be able to share with everyone else exactly where I'm talking about, but I can't. You see the place is too small, and there are too many families just like ours who have been returning for decades. Their families have grown, and they also require one or two or three cabins for a week or two. And since the place is only open for about 12 weeks, and there are only 14 cabins . . . well, getting the cabin(s) you want the week(s) you want is already a bit like winning the lottery. So I'm sorry, but I can't invite anyone else to play. But I will share the pictures over there on the right.
These are just a smattering of daily highlights from the fastest week of the year 2004.
Saturday, August 21. Drove up in steady rain, then torrential downpours, then steady rain, then drizzle. Kids were talking gibberish (some camp-learned kid-speak) in the car all the way up. Fudda-Gog! My Mom asked the owner if he happened to have an iron since her clothes had gotten mighty wrinkled. Given that we're talking about log cabins in the middle of the woods, she added that she wondered if she was the first guest to ever ask for one. Owner replied in typical New Englander fashion "Well yes, but we've only been here 29 years." Our cabin wasn't our first choice, but it will be from now on! It was decorated beautifully but also had these two bizarre metal wall hangings of women in bathing suits flying across the kitchen walls (picture over there somewhere). My nephew S remarked "Yeah, they just scream 'rustic cabin' at you." Built a roaring fire that night and nephews came over to roast marshmallows with the kids. Fell asleep to the sound of the fire crackling and the roaring stream down the hill from the deck.
Sunday, August 22. Gorgeous sunny day. Drove around to all our favorite places to stock up on candy and cheese and other absolutely necessary things. I scored three jars of picked asparagus. Was trying in vain to open one back at the cabin later and my son saw I needed help. Took the jar and said "Here, let a man help you." Handed the jar to daughter and said "Emily?" Swimming in the afternoon, with the return of the raft "SS Jackass. Declan asking out of the blue sometime during the evening "Mom, is Hannukah the Festival of Lust?" Out in the field watching the stars later that night and we saw a great shooting one. Bright and lasted a comparatively long time, but my 5-year-old nephew G insisted if you don't complete the wish while the star is still shooting, it's useless. No wonder none of mine ever came true. I'm a slow wisher.
Monday, August 23. Got to celebrate yet another birthday in Vermont. Hammy Birthday to me (Em, you know what I mean!). We went to the Bromley Thrill Zone where I got up the nerve to ride the chairlift six times in order to whoosh and bump and zoom down on the alpine slide and deval karts. Emily swooshed right out of the slide track once and got pretty banged up. Had dinner at Mom & Dad's cabin, cake, candles, the whole thing. A better birthday was never had.
Tuesday, August 24. Ventured out to the "official" Vermont Country Store, about a 45-minute ride. Snacked our way through on all the samples of cheeses, chutneys, jams, crackers and pretzals. Swimming in the afternoon and this time I actually went completely in. Let me tell you, 15 seconds in that water washes off any number of weeks' worth of NJ grime and pollution stuck in your pores.
Wednesday, August 25. Did a little more shopping in the morning for absolutely necessary stuff like bracelets and windchimes and t-shirts. Went tubing in the afternoon. There is absolutely hardly nothing more fun than tubing in my opinion. Lazily drifting down the river sometimes on your back looking up at the trees and sky, sometimes on your stomach staring down through the clear dark water watching the rocks pass slowly underneath you. My sister said that upon passing a graveyard on the way to the tubing place, my nephew G noted that "A lot of people in Vermont are dead already."
Thursday, August 26. Back to Bromley Thrill Zone. Today was Declan's turn to wipe out on the alpine slide, bad enough that we brought him to the medical office for cleaning up. Ten minutes later he was going back for more fun. For some reason God only knows, today I chickened out on the chairlift. Did it once and my palms were absolutely dripping with sweat after the 8-minute ride to the top. Given that the full-day pass I bought was $50, that was one effin' expensive ride. I spent the next several hours on my really favorite ride, the Gin & Tonic Slide in the patio bar where I could watch the kids bravely go where this mom wouldn't go again.
Friday, August 27. Our last full day here. Slept in, went down the road apiece to an antique store where a friend from my NJ job has a booth so I stopped in to say hello since she was up for the weekend. Took stock of the groceries in the fridge so I'd know whether to try to eat it all up or buy a cooler to transport some of the stuff home. Our cheese inventory for the week consisted of: Cheddar (plain), Cheddar with Bacon, Cheddar with Horseradish, Cheddar with Pepperoni, Smoked Cheddar, Pepperjack, Muenster, and Truck Driver Cheddar which they say is so sharp it bites back but to be honest with you it just really smells. Bad. Went out to dinner with the whole famn damily at Mulligan's where they sell (and we bought) T-shirts that proclaim they're the best location to celebrate: Ordinations, liquidations, cremations, divorces, engagements, separations, promotions, commotions, and demotions. Well I don't know about that, but my steak au poivre and tiramisu dessert were mighty fine.
So there you have it. My attempt to describe the indescribable. I've barely finished unpacking and already I can't wait for next year.
