July 9, 2012 through July 15, 2012, Burton Island State Park, Vermont.
Sara and Stephanie’s island hiatus. Nothing but island and lake until Friday.
Sara- Every morning I would sit by the water on a comfortable rock; I found two that worked as a chair, with a great back rest. Some mornings I’d choose the nearby bench instead though, as I saw the sun meet spider webs sparkling with dew. As an artist scuttled across my rock chair, I’d back off to my bench and crack open Anna Karenina.
In the last few days before we left our island for a weekend in Montreal I pulled on my hiking boots and ran each morning, for the first time, I think, since I’d sprained my ankle a couple months earlier, when I was still in school in Canada, jogging around Mount Royal. On my Burton Island runs, I’d plod along the perimeter, through forest, along beaches, over rocks, till I reached a light-kissed grassy clearing with two picnic tables and three trees, two small ones a larger one that I felt wish me goodbye as I left—the Southern Tip. I’d hop onto a picnic table and hoist my right leg, and then the rest of my body, into one of the smaller trees, as I’d seen another traveler do. And there I’d sit, in the crook of a tree, a baby held by her mother.
Then I’d smile round at the clearing in thanks, walk over to the very tip, and gaze down from the cliff at the frolicking, meandering waves, at a smaller island across the waters. Once I fancied I saw a guy sitting on that other dollop of land, lounging on a beach chair. I waved, turned, ran.
Steph would always be waiting, grumbling at me for not telling her I’d gone. “I wanna get some exercise too, ya know.”
I’d nod, ask her for my water bottle and weave drunkenly, calmly over to my waterside reading rocks that I’d dance carefully over and plop into the cool, fresh lake. Smile.
Some of the best days Steph and I had were spent reading.
We’d rouse ourselves from lethargy at around noon, make lunch, eat too much, laze some more, “digesting”, and then finally head out, Hunger Games in hand, to the Southern Tip. We’d stop at beaches and take turns reading. Mostly Steph read. She was good at it. We did the same thing later with Steph’s summer reading book Into The Wild. I’m listening to the soundtrack to the movie now. I recommend the book, the music and the movie.
July 13, 2012, Burton Island State Park, Vermont.
Marc- Friday. Sure and I are back sort of. We returned to work this week and then left really early, a la 04:30 this morning to pick up the girls on the first Burton Island ferry to Kill Kare. The reason for this excursion is a necessary trip to McGill University at Montreal this morning. The border crossing was uneventful but different. The American border patrol was stopping all vehicles at its station. Not only this but they were accompanied by two soldiers with machine guns. Something was up and they were not telling us anything. A few standard questions and we went on to the Canadian crossing station. The Customs Guard was not his normal friendly self yet were had no difficulties. We arrived in Montreal to check into Sara’s apartment. We then proceeded to McGill and a meeting with the Art’s Faculty Director for transfers. Sara met with the gentlemen for a few minutes about her requested transfer from Education to Arts. She checked on the computer once back to the apartment and wow the transfer had been allowed. Excellent news for a very happy Sara.
We remained in Montreal to work on Sara’s apartment and to visit with Aunt Dorothy. The lunch at the neighborhood Greek restaurant was excellent. Sara enjoyed visiting with her friends that had remained in Montreal over the summer.
Saturday. Sara and I went over to get Aunt Dorothy for breakfast and a visit to Sara’s apartment. Breakfast was very nice in one of the restaurants downstairs in La Cite’ (Sara’s apartment complex). We then toured some of the local stores in the underground mall before departing for a visit to Chambly. Unfortunately is was very hot and sunny in Chambly. The tour outside of some of the old homes was difficult but the young guide was good. We enjoyed lunch in an air conditioned restaurant by the Chambly basin and then went for dessert at a local chocolate shop. Our last stop in Chambly was a market for some local strawberries, blueberries and Curd Cheddar cheese.
July 15, 2012, Burton Island State Park, Vermont.
Marc- Sue brought us back from Montreal and left us at the ferry. She is returning to work in Boston while we continue our Vermont sailing on Lake Champlain. Luckily we made a food stop at Hannaford's market to re-supply the Lucy III’s foodstuffs. Later I lit a campfire for some marshmallow (vegan) roasting and some smores.
July 16, 2012, Burton Island State Park, Vermont.
Marc- Monday. A wonderful morning for our departure with South winds at 10 knots. We did a pump out and a fuel fill up this morning as the forecast is for light and variable winds. Our arrival at the Grand Isle Bridge was 15 minutes off so we tied up to get some ice at Ladd’s Landing. The bridge opened right on time and we motor sailed South to Burlington. I made arrangements to tie up at the Burlington Community Boathouse since stormy weather is forecast for the next 36 hours. It did not take us long to reach Church Street and the shops more for a diversion than for actual need. Dinner was enjoyed on the Lucy III of pasta and a green salad. We all went for a quick swim off of the back of Lucy III after sunset and just prior to the onslaught of the mosquitoes. A guard came by with a flashlight but he did not see us or chose to ignore us.
July 17, 2012, Burlington Community Boathouse, Burlington, Vermont.
Marc- Tuesday . Breakfast onboard the Lucy III and then our free bus adventure into the downtown. More shops again today and a lunch stop at a new Mexican Diner that features $ 4.00 meals. I picked up a few missing wires for the electronics on the Lucy III. We should now be able to hear movies playing on the laptop. The A.C. creates a fair amount of background noise to deal with and the small speaker should help. We had a bouncy time since sunrise with a 20 knot wind out of the South. Our slip has some Southern exposure. This should clear up tonight when the wind shift to the West at 40 knots. Some rain this morning but none of the big storms predicted have arrived here yet. We saw the new Spiderman movie while the nasty storms rolled through town. No harm done to Lucy III. The Captain of the Charter Friendship Sloop explained the severe lightning and 60 knot winds.
 |
| Burlington flowers |
No comments:
Post a Comment