Vermont stories

Drove with M, the co-valedictorian from Dr. Moo's eighth grade graduating class to Addison County this weekend for Dr. Moo's wedding shower. Highlights:

* Stopped for directions at the Halfway House, a diner on 22A in the town where the shower was being held. It was their month in a naked calendar fundraiser so I had the distinct pleasure of viewing both the clothed front and the naked behind of the lady cook at the same time.

* Even with the directions I got from one of the locals at said diner, still had to pull out the Gazetteer to find the place. While pulled over to look at Gazetteer, M and I realized we were surrounded by calf igloos. We shrieked, grabbed our cameras, rolled down the windows and took pictures while yelling "cows! cows! cows!" Doing this in a car with MA plates is pretty bad but NY plates would have been worse.

* While on a walk at twilight I spooked a turkey out of a tree (possibly, though I think it also could have been an owl) and checked out a dead pheasant in a ditch. The pheasant was very pretty. It looked to have had a Hollywood death, but more film noir than horror. There was no blood, and it was rather artfully crumpled.

* Passed a border patrol roadblock on 89 on the way in and then got stopped by one on the way back. We were nowhere near the Canadian border. Apparently my car looks sketchy, but I don't, because we were asked to roll down our windows and produce ID but as soon as I asked what for, the officer asked if I was a US citizen and I said yup and we were waved through. I am glad I look harmless, because I am in fact harmless. But my car has gotten pretty messy. It reminded me of the time I got pulled over in Auburn NH many moons ago, back when I kept a really messy car. The cop who stopped me shined his flashlight in my back seat and said it looked like Jimmy Hoffa could have been buried there. FYI, if you try and google border patrol roadblocks in NH and VT you end up on some sort of Free-Stateresque site where debate the usefulness of openly displaying their weapons when they come upon them. Delightful. Also, there was a truck pulled over by the BP and there were agents swarming it like bees. I've never come across such a thing before. The whole experience was alien, and a bit creepy.