scenes from a vermont weekend

You certainly eat well in Vermont, & perhaps because of the long & dormant winter months, it seems most explicitly so in the springtime. Shoots & leaves spring out & cover the landscape in a tide of green, & produce from local farms begins appearing in droves in the roadside farm stands, markets & shops. One of the things that attracted us to this corner of the world was the close relationship one has with the natural world, & with the cultivation of the very stuff of life, our food.

The first Farmers' Market of the season certainly drove this point home. After picking up a flat of organic herb starts & freshly harvested salad greens, we sat down to a humongous breakfast of local chef Shital's palak paneer & aloo gobi, with piquant garlic pickle & fragrant coriander chutney. Oh how I missed this food over the long winter months! As if that weren't enough, we each got a beautiful & delicious pastry from Patricia, whose artistry, as someone interested in the chocolate arts, I hold in very high esteem. My tender & feather-light meringue cookies had creamy hazelnut & dark chocolate ganaches sandwiched between, & were absolutely swoon-worthy. A cup of Neil's expertly blended hot chai was the perfect compliment. Heaven.

Seeing the Market's newly landscaped common area dotted with picnic tables brought back memories of last year's devastating floods, & was testimonial to this area's commitment to coming together as a community & helping each other in times of need. We sat not far from a spot where J & other volunteers helped shovel fill onto the scarred terrain & rebuild the soil that was swept away.

I love living in a place where we know the people who grow our food, & know the land from whence it came. Our own little garden plot is now populated with herbs & greens that started their lives just a few miles away.

We topped off the weekend with a hike on some of our favorite trails, a place with a colorful history & miles of hilly & rocky terrain. Although we visit this particular forest during each season, I must admit that I like springtime the best; the mosquitos & biting flies have yet to come out, & the riot of green & birdsong is invigorating. Our hike was punctuated every several feet by the alarm chirps of territorial chipmunks, & the astringent smell of pine needles flooded our sinuses & made me feel dizzy.

I certainly slept well last night.