A Tethered Cloud

We headed back down to Vermont in mid-afternoon, after J. got the first of the two required Canadian inspections on the car that we recently imported, and I did a trip to the fruiterie to buy vegetables and fruit, including the first Quebec asparagus.

Last night he went to a meeting and I went to choir, except apparently I’d missed the message that there wasn’t any. Instead there was a huge thunderstorm, which wasn’t exactly conducive to hopping back on my bike, so I window-shopped in the underground for a while, waiting for the rain to let up, and then rode back to the bibiotheque where I spent a happy half hour browsing in the classical music CD section before cycling home on the wet streets.

 

Our trip today was through storms too: a leaden cloud seemed to be tethered to the car, because it followed us all the way to Vermont. On the flats above Lake Champlain we stopped a number of times to take photos when beautiful light filtered through the dark clouds, shimmering on the fields of tender new grain or polishing the distant aluminum silos and church steeples. We saw two rainbows, several deer, a flock of captive elk, a raccoon, black cows chasing each other around a field (which made us burst out laughing,) an enormous stack of logs, a herd of sweet-faced brown Swiss huddled under a tree, and a flock of newly-naked sheep, recently relieved of their winter coats.

The house is much emptier than when we arrived the last time, and we’re both feeling a huge amount of relief at having a clear path ahead, and a place to go to: in the last few days we found a studio space that looks like it will be just about perfect for us. At 9:00 pm we ate a dinner of salmon, asparagus, and new potatoes, and J. is in the kitchen right now cutting up a half-flat of strawberries that we bought at a farm stand in Iberville: summer has arrived.

Comments

[Vivian]

Ah, ah, car inspections! This takes me back to 1990 when I brought in my Ford Escort from the US and was told I needed a "numéro de police." So I drove over to the police station. At the counter there, after a period of profound confusion (on their part) followed by embarrassed laughter (on mine) I was given to understand that this mysterious needed 'thing' was the number of my INSURANCE policy...

[zuleme]

Do you mean you rented a studio space in Vermont for visits?

[beth]

A true Montreal story, Vivian!

Zuleme, no, the studio will be in Montreal, about a 25-minute walk or 7-minute bike ride from our apartment. We're not going to keep a place in Vermont, at least not now; when we come back down for visits - which we certainly intend to do - we'll probably stay with friends.

[Anne Gibert]

It sounds as if life is good, Beth, dark clouds and all.

[beth]

Anne - thanks - life feels good, busy, and complicated. I am trying to remain on the light side of the clouds, not the stormy one!

[Kaycie]

Frankly, Beth, I am jealous of that weather. Yesterday, it was 101F with about 50% humidity. We're currently at 94F with 40% humidity with a forecast of 102F. High summer in Oklahoma is the perfect time to escape to Canada! Hubby is going to Waterloo, Ontario, on business in a few weeks and I wish I could join him!

[zuleme]

Hi Beth,
We've had the cloudiest June I can remember here. Everything is lush and green and the garden happily sprouting peas, lettuce, spinach and beets. The potatoes look phenomenal. And we've plenty of strawberries. It is rather gloomy though and I expect once the weather changes we will be on the run for what we call the 4th of Julabor Day Weekend trying to get all our tourism video shots done. And we have a trip to France planned for August 28th.
I would love to meet you in Montreal sometime. I lived there for a couple of years, it is such a nice city.
Maybe I'll get some photos of the garden posted like I've been meaning to.

[krish]

these photos are so beautiful!