Sunday a.m. - Barre, VT

Saturday, September 6 - afternoon

M. The farmers’ market in Montpelier is wonderful, and much larger than it looks from the entrance. The fresh vegetables and flowers; meats, fresh and cured; breads; dairy products;knitted or woven items; jellies, honey and maple syrup; flowers and plants, jewelry, soap, etc. Everything was organic, homegrown or handmade, nothing commercial. Lots to eat: wood fired pizza or fresh corn from the grill; Pakistani, Philippine, African, Chinese, Middle Eastern food (I bought a Pakistani fried “envelope” that was delicious and contained potatoes, celery and red beans with a mild sweet sauce – it had quite a kick for mild; also bought homemade biscotti and a baguette.) One could sample from this or that and enjoy the music. It was very colorful, the people having a great time, looking healthy and happy.

W. While Margaret was in the market, I slaved over a hot computer and was able to catch up on mail and stock market. Afterwards, I wandered over to find the missus. She was busy taking photos including the “sword” fighting exhibition. I will try including a few seconds of video in another blog to see if it works.

In addition to the usual fare (mentioned by M: above), there was a wine stall. Naturally I stopped in to sample the wares. The gentlemen said that in the hills of Vermont, the FRONTENAC grape does best – they had white and red from the grape – so I tried the red. Maybe it’s an acquired taste? I asked about shipping and he replied he’d deliver FREE anywhere. So after leading him on, I finally told him he’d love Florida in the winter. He winced and said he should have seen that coming – and me with a U of F Gator hat on!

After the morning in Montpelier, we asked Miss Priss for a PETSMART location to buy Suki litter and stuff. The closest store was in Burlington, about 29 miles, so off we went. Turned out to be a huge shopping center including Home Depot, Circuit City, and, ta-da, BEST BUY. Margaret enjoyed the Ben & Jerry Ice Cream store the best. There was also THE CHRISTMAS TREE store – which was more of a Pier One / World Market with a mix of everything from pasta to wicker baskets. So we got some stuff including a new house for Suki when we’re on the road.

As a side note for any wanna-be techies: Margaret’s laptop has seemed like molasses when doing anything. I got to wondering how much RAM memory it had. From prior experience I knew that too little can really slow a computer down. So when we found the BEST BUY, I took in the laptop to have them check. Ouch, there was only 1 gigabyte of RAM, hardly enough to run the operating system, much less any serious program. Fortunately they had one package of 2 – 2 gigabyte (total of 4 gbyte) RAM. Back in the camper and 20 seconds later, we now have a fully functional and normal-operating-speed computer. Glory be.

When we came out of the store, it looked like a fog had moved in. That’s what it looked like until you walked into it, then it was all wet. Not really a rain, but more like a very heavy mist. Margaret said it looked like it was snowing, but at 71 degrees, that was unlikely, but the mist just danced like snow. We got intermittent rain all day with clouds hugging the hilltops along I-89.

Vermont, at least in this neighborhood, is pretty much as I expected to be, one continuous panorama of hills, valley, streams, and lots of heavy forestation. Given the similarity in Latitude and closeness to an ocean, the growing conditions and foliage are very similar to the northwest USA. Lots of ferns on the forest floor, big evergreens, and green, green, green everywhere you look; except of course for the huge granite outcroppings popping up on hill sides and along the highways. When the sun comes out (it does come out, doesn’t it?), I will try to capture this feeling in photographs – I love a challenge!

The weather marked what I believe is the start of fall. As I mentioned earlier, they are forecasting lows in the low 40’s by Thursday. Could we see snow yet? The locals say it can and has snowed in every month of the year.

Since Margaret did most of the photography, I will let her pick out a couple of shots and tell you about them.

M. Market stuff. More about the Shire of Panther Vale Chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SSCA). This is “a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the study of history, culture, and the arts and sciences of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is a “living history” movement and members of this chapter study the Middle Ages and Renaissance by recreating aspects of life from that period.” See www.sca.org or www.panthervale.com.

Members “wear historically accurate clothing, eat food prepared as it would have been, play music and dance the dances, and practice the firms of fighting in pre 1600 AD Europe. Research included spinning, weaving, needlework, jewelry, brewing, herbalism, heraldry, games, juggling, calligraphy and illumination, leather and metal and wood working.”

I watched a fighting demonstration which included explanation of the protective clothing, etiquette, and moves. Strikes were “calibrated” for strength, and when someone received a blow of a defined strength, they then fought as though injured. A father was training his son who was armed with a claymore against a sword and shield. The claymore was heavier and longer, the sword quicker and the fighter, agile. Each got his blows in. Will let a couple photos tell the tale, but fascinating. I’d enjoy joining this group. They had fun, their kids were excited and involved – had a sense of community, behaving “as if.”

W: p.s. I asked Margaret to pick out 3 or 4 shots to use; she comes up with 8! I told her it wasn't easy sorting the wheat from the chaff!