Vermont Rain, Beer, and Pig

So for some time now I have been far, far from cell phone service or access to the interwebicals, due to my taking some well-deserved time off from work to head to my birth-state for some hiking, beer-having, high-fiving, and general hanging out & being awesome.

Saturday I got up early, picked up rental wheels, and drove as fast as I could up to Vermont. The deal was, I meeting Diesel Damien up in Whitingham, where his family friends own a home. Damien said he'd be there by noon, so I of course understood this to mean about 2pm, "Damien Time". I figured, since I was only going to be there for a few days, that I'd head up early, get in a smallish hike somewhere in the middle of the state, and then arrive at the house mid-afternoon after Damien had shown up and settled in a bit.

I arrived in VT around 11:30am and was up on the summit of Styles Peak by around 1 or 2pm. It was a nice little hike, and the rain let up just long enough for me to huck it up to the top & back. The drive back downstate to Whitingham pretty much sucked though, due to the torrents of summer rain pelting the shit out of me and the rental the whole time. I didn't get to the house until 4pm. Fortunately, had I arrived any earlier I would have had to wait in my car as Damien literally pulled in behind me at that very moment. Apparently, the years of separation have caused me to lose touch of just how far-off "Damien Time" can be from actual reality.

That night Damien's cousin Adam showed up with various super-sized chunks of organic pig which were prepared and consumed that night. Adam, righteous dude that he is, brought the meat from the farm at which he works- here, I think -and despite being a vegetarian hippie, he cooked one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

Most of my 4 days there were spent eating, drinking local beer, swimming, kayaking, and of course Croquet on this amazing lawn at the house. I found a nice little 7bbl brewpub in Bennington called Madison Brewing Company; and D & I agreed that almost all of their 8 offerings were decent, with a few being quite good. We bought half a dozen growlers to keep everyone's mouths full of brew back at the house (they were subsequently filled a few more times in effort to maintain this). Later in the week I hiked Mt Ascutney, which admittedly kicked my hungover ass a new...umm....ass, I suppose.

here is what it MAY have looked like if I took a picture myself

Damien's guests included his brother & sister, some cousins, some S.O.s, and a few friends. Damien's family members are all certifiably CRAZY, in a good way. I love hanging out with them. They seem to have accepted me as one of their own over the years; I sort of get treated like a distant cousin, and by that I mean I get token invites to some random get-togethers every so often. It's great. Anyway, I bring lots of beer and they always end up inviting me back. Also, out of the 12 or so people that were there I think that 14 of them were musicians. Do the math: it was a lot of musicians. There were instruments everywhere and lots of singing. I managed not to embarrass myself too badly during my turns at the piano (an instrument on which I am only OF LATE coming into my own). Also I had the pleasure of meeting Oh Dorian, (aka Heather) who in addition to being an amazing musician is also one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. Check out her music here and just TRY not to be moved: I dare you.

Now it's back to Boston & catching up on school stuff. Luckily I only have to show up for work 3 out of the next 9 days. Radiohead is next Wednesday, I think Damien and Liz are staying here in town for that, so any readers who are Balazs fans have another update to look forward to. Chances of a croquet re-match are slim though, mostly I think because Damien is afraid to face me again, but also because it would probably be wicked hard to get the wickets pounded into my driveway. Ideas, anyone?

-'Wrence