Sunflowers
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| Busy bees, doing what they do |
You've still got a few weeks if you want to see the world's largest "Sunflower House" - at Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock, Vermont (as you know, my part time employer).
With the pandemic last year, some of the facility's indoor spaces were closed to the public, but one thing that wasn't impacted was the so-called "Sunflower House" (aka maze). It's back bigger and better this year, with over 100 varieties of flowers that started to blossom in late July and are expected to bloom through late September.
It was featured on NECN a few weeks ago: see the clip HERE.
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| It wasn't until I looked at this picture that I noticed the bee that happened to be flying in for its meal at the moment I snapped the shot. (Look closely to the upper right of the flower) |
Tropical Storms
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| Picture from the book "Wrath of Irene" by local author M. Dickey Drysdale |
Hurricane-turned-tropical-storm "Henri" turned out to be pretty much a non-event up here in central Vermont. While parts of Connecticut saw 3-4" of rain and New York City twice that, our garden rain gauge here registered just one quarter of an inch.
The days leading up to the storm, however, had many Vermonters anxious about the potential of history repeating itself, as we neared the tenth anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene. Irene had mostly spared the coast, but swiftly continued inland on August 28, 2011, decimating miles of roads, undermining bridges and houses, upending cemeteries, and isolating communities along the way. Our local TV station took a look back a few days ago: Hurricane Irene.
Visitors from the South
John and I were happy to host Jerry & Laura Kimble for an overnight visit a couple of weekends ago. They were on their way to Burlington to pick up their son Spencer, a UVM student, who was taking a week off before returning to start the new semester.
We started with dinner and local brews at Bent Hill Brewery, poetically described on their website as "nestled in the hills of Braintree, Vermont" (translation: "in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road - but with great views"). The place sure does draw a crowd, and understandably so because the food and drinks did not disappoint!
On the way home, we passed by Gil Anderson's old vacation home, right there on Bent Hill Road, and the evening's conversation turned to reminiscences of MSD back in the 20th century: the days when the department was a sea of gray desks, when smoking was allowed everywhere, when telephones were shared by four people. Our birthday celebrations and department picnics were epic, and we had enough softball players to field not one but two teams - not to mention enough 20-somethings for an annual over/under 30 competition. And of COURSE, the topic drifted to some of the classic characters we worked with: Gil, Charlie Straight, DJ Blake, and too many others to mention here.
This past August 8, just like every other year, I thought about where I was on that same date in 1974: at an interview luncheon with a couple of 40-something "geezers" (to my 22 year-old brain) - Gil and Hal Velie. One of the two brought up the question: "what do you think President Nixon will talk about in his address to the nation tonight?" It turned out to be the day that Nixon announced that he'd resign as of the next day.
That day may have been a downturn in Nixon's life, but quite the opposite for me, the long-reaching significance of which I could not have grasped at the time. I could never have imagined how that pivotal day would direct the course of my life. Over the next few weeks, I'd meet many folks (including my husband) who would become life-long friends - friends with whom I'd be sharing memories with 40+ years later, or with whom I'd be able to communicate over distances by a not-yet-invented medium called the Internet.
How lucky are we to have the privilege of such friendships!
