Twenty feet to home-grown goodness

The last two days have been quite mixed with ridiculously anxious emotions and extreme serenity. Both Jake and I are having some trouble sleeping here. It could be that we are not used to mountain time, where the horizon is so high up that the sun sets around six and rises about the same time twelve hours later. It could be that the air literally stops moving in the night so you feel slightly like you're suffocating. Or it could be that we are sharing a double bed which is slightly too small for a growing boy over six feet tall.It could be that the mountains are home to some strange species of birds that make calls like singular cackles several seconds apart starting around four AM and going at near equal intervals until the sun sets. Any of these things could be contributing to our lack of sleep, but something's gotta give soon...



Tuesday we went to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, just a little drive away from here. A great time was had, and after the tour we went to Burlington to see The Dark Knight, which was equally entertaining, although not as tasty. It is amazing that they make all that ice cream with just two conveyor belts. Here is some motivation for anyone interested in coming to visit us. There is something called the "Vermonster" at the factory, which entails twenty scoops of ice-cream and several freshly made cookies and brownies. It also includes at least one banana, several scoops of various toppings including hot fudge and caramel. It costs around thirty-five dollars and weighs up to nine pounds. It is also served in a giant commemorative plastic bucket that is yours to keep (and possibly use later...). We will buy the brave adventurers a Vermonster. And, if you need help finishing it, I'm sure we would be more than happy to oblige. If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.






We were able to visit the Joseph Smith Memorial today, and it was quite beautiful. We took the tour and it was pretty amazing. It is definitely worth a visit (not just a ploy for people to come see us, but a genuine belief). For those that don't know, the memorial is a 38.5 foot solid granite obelisk (one foot for every year of Joseph Smith's life) and was erected in 1905, 100 years after his birth. As I have mentioned before, it is on beautiful grounds, meticulously landscaped, and is just breathtaking.

The farmers' market is an absolutely jubilant experience. I think that accurately describes our emotions: jubilant. It is roughly twenty feet from our house, which is fantastic, and occurs every Thursday. These Vermont farmers are pretty funny. I was buying cucumbers, cukes, and, not knowing how to select produce, I said, "how do you pick a cucumber?" and she said, "well, I pick mine from a vine." I felt like an idiot. But we got black currant jelly that is just wild, some fresh bread, some cukes, and some sweet corn. Jake made a fantastic saute of cucumbers, corn, chicken, and pasta that we ate tonight, and those home-grown flavors just came alive! Support your local farmers' market!

It was an absolutely beautiful day until it started just pouring. People keep telling us it never rains this much, but we find that hard to believe:


That's all from Vermont for now.


Come visit.