Going Off-Homestead

I deliberately chose to ignore my weighty list yesterday to go hiking up a mountain.  In retrospect, I may have been suffering from delusions of youth.  It was ... are you sitting down? ... a date.  It involved breathtaking vistas, a picnic I did not have to pack, interesting conversation, and a mini-concert at the end.  It also involved mostly uphill trekking, long patches of mud, a million rocks, and MILES of trails.

This is why it was all worth it:

View at the trail head

Looking West from the mountain.

Nature's chimney

Entrance to the Snow Hole

There were lots of points where the scene laid out before us was breathtaking.  Unfortunately, my breath was already being taken up in panting gasps - which I valiantly tried to cover with coughing, pointing my camera and pretending to take a picture so I could recover.  The trail was on the NY/MA border - I believe it's the Taconic Trail.  Much too late, I discovered that my hiking companion thinks nothing of hiking the trail from his house (in Pownal, VT), all 26 miles to this point.  Had I known, I would have cited an old football injury and done a more sane hike.  But, all in all, it was a lovely day.  Plus, he knew all the native plants and trees, could give me the Latin names for the various fungi we encountered (while I sagely nodded and said, Um hum.)

I barely made it home in time to do chores and meet the nice young woman who bought my beloved Lulabelle.  She raises and shows goats (plus), has chickens (plus plus), loved Lulabelle's bumper stickers (plus, plus, plus), was recently separated (boo) and has two adorable children, no car and limited funds.  It was a perfect match.  We worked out a payment schedule and her brother drove Lulabelle off to her new home.  Plateless.  I love these country folks.

My day was perfectly ended by some companionable knitting with my friend, Melanie, accompanied by a bowl of dark cherry ice cream, a Gluten Free shortbread cookie, and a nice mug of tea.