Spring Drive

Back in Vermont, briefly. It's the time of year when this Vale of Tears, this bitter Saha world, is bursting with hope, beauty, and pleasure! The higher hillsides of Vermont are barely brushed with baby-green, as the woods of eastern Connecticut flush with adolescent foliage, randy in its yearning for sun and bees. I have seen both within a few days.

I set out Friday and went my preferred route through Rhode Island and Connecticut, taking two-lane routes 6, 101, and 44, before latching on to the superhighway outside of Hartford.


It had rained earlier, and mist and low clouds made the scenery of even more interest than even the already joyful return of life to the trees and weed. Even the human component, the winter-closed tourist shops and eateries, buzzed with cheerful activity. I noted several places to visit on a more leisurely trip, like the "antique" shop that sold incredibly intricate bird houses, of unusual geometry and ornament.

I came across a house and yard at the corner of a side road that was so well kept I had to turn around and take a few pictures.

The forsythia was at peak all along Rt. 44.


Eventually, I ran out of country and got onto the superhighway, and then hit heavy traffic for rush hour in Hartford.


Past there, traffic picked up but slowed down again over by Waterbury. I've seen many a strange sight in my car travels, but usually I have no camera primed and ready, like when I was on the Beaverton expressway outside of Portland, Oregon, and saw five cars welded together in a perfect line by impact. The second and fourth cars looked like accordions. But by the time I thought of it, I was already passing the scene and had not time to even pull my camera out of its bag, let alone turn it on. But on Friday, I thought the clouds were so that a shot through the windshield would be warranted, and had just clicked it on when a car in the lane to the right burst into a cloud of smoke or steam that completely obscured it for a few seconds.


The cloud has partially abated by this shot. I, and most sane people, would have pulled over to see what happened. The phenomenon suggested a burst radiator to me. Nonetheless, the driver kept on driving. Perhaps I should have remained behind them to see if they would have their engine seize and then offer what assistance I might be capable of, but I did not.

This is the cloud shot I liked:


I arrived at Owlbone's place by eight o'clock, and we enjoyed Ghost Whisperer , turning in early so that we could . . .

Get up way early to get to the Chan Hall by six.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going now to a camping gathering for four days, and will continue after that.