Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

A week ago Monday, still on our trip to Vermont, we spent a quiet morning with my brother's wife and my nephew. My nephew was still sick and was actually getting fussy because of it. He was crying a lot, which was not usual for him.

So when The Gryphon and I decided to drive into Montpelier for a little shopping, my brother's wife decided to stay behind with my nephew.

This time we didn't hit any big tourist attractions. We just did a little shopping downtown.

First, we checked out a number of clothing stores, all of which were too expensive for me. We also checked out an antique store which had a small amount of vintage clothing. There was one jacket in particular I found interesting. It was black velvet and said it was from the Victorian era, but she only wanted $15 for it!

It looked like it was about my size, so I asked if I could try it on. She said, "That depends on what you're wearing under your coat."

What? Like I'm smeared with bacon grease or something!

She explained. "If you're wearing something bulky, obviously you can't try it on over that."

But I wasn't, so I removed my jacket and cardigan (I had a tank top sweater underneath) and tried it on. I hadn't noticed until I took it off the hanger that the lining was in bad shape. I could just barely squeeze into it, but I knew it wouldn't last long if I tried to actually wear it. So I put it delicately back on its hanger.

We checked out a couple book stores. At the first one, which I believe was Bear Pond Books, I sat on a flight of stairs at the back, making notes about what had happened to us in Vermont so I could write about it later. When The Gryphon came back to get me, he asked if everything was OK. I told him I don't really like going in book stores anymore because it only reminds me of all the things I haven't done, the things I was going to write, the books unpublished.

He apologized, which made me feel guilty. As we walked to the next store, I started thinking out loud about some things I could do. I do have a finished poetry manuscript I could be sending out, and I can purchase a ISBN number for the one I've self-published, so I can sell it at Amazon.com.

I assured him I didn't mind going in the next book store, so we went in Rivendell Books, a used book store. The Gryphon happily browsed the Science Fiction section while I looked at the interesting post cards. I ended up buying one of them which was on sale.

Then we stopped at a music store. The Gryphon kept setting off the alarm as we entered, and we couldn't figure out why. The guys behind the counter joked that he was trying to smuggle stuff into the store.

I bought two CDs, one by Citizen Cope, which my brother had introduced me to. The other was by Jason Cullum, a modern day crooner on whom I saw a special on Vermont public television.

We had lunch at a place called Rhapsody. We'd wanted to eat at a cafe my brother's wife told us about, down from the CD store, so we tried this place. It was a vegetarian buffet. There were a lot of crunchy hippies in there, a lot of them women with small children, dressed in polarfleece and natural materials.

They sold sushi by the piece, so I picked some up. This was the first place I'd ever been to where the vegetable sushi was better than the fish sushi. I guess it's because that's what they specialize in.

The main drawback of Rhapsody was that it was overpriced for what you got. Most of the food wasn't terribly exciting, though they did have some dishes that were really good.

We also stopped at Ben & Jerry's and got a couple small scoops. This time I tried Chocolate Therapy. Just what the doctor ordered.

Last, we stopped at a food co-op that's down the street from where my brother and his wife used to live when they were in Montpelier. This place is great; I wish we had something like this in Philadelphia. If we do, I haven't found it yet. They sell everything from organic vegetables to whole grains in bulk to all sorts of natural products.

Afterwards, we drove back and spent more time with my brother's wife and my nephew. He had been refusing to take a nap, probably because of the cold. We tried tiring him out by playing with him, and it seemed a lost cause. I do think he got a little napping in.

My brother came home about 5 after a dentist appointment. For dinner, his wife went all out. She made chicken, yams, mashed potatoes and green beans. It was like Thanksgiving.

I was really starting to fade, but we stayed up for a little bit with my brother's wife. We took a few pictures on the sofa. My brother grew too tired and had to go to bed. I actually started falling asleep on the couch, then would wake up and realize The Gryphon and my brother's wife were still talking. It was nice to see them getting to know each other a bit better.

The next day, Tuesday morning, I missed my brother leaving for work, since he left early. But I did get to see off my brother's wife and my nephew. She was taking him to daycare on her way to work.

I went back to bed for a short while and then we got up, had breakfast, got showers and were on the road by about 10:30.

We were driving in some light snow and weren't terribly worried. After all, we were still in Vermont. But every time one of us would say, "It seems like we're driving out of it," we'd get hit with even more snow. So we agreed we wouldn't say that any more.

The road back was tedious and sometimes a little scary. I don't mind driving in light snow, but it's harder when it's an area with which you're not familiar. When we were driving through parts of New York, just to keep myself amused, I was calling the exits like we were in some kind of old elevator: "Exit 6, Binghamton, Bing Crosby imitators and hams." The Gryphon kept telling me I was silly.

We stopped for lunch at an Italian sub shop, where I got an eggplant parmagian. This time, we didn't do what we did on the way up, which was stop at a place where we could eat outside and give some sausage to my dog, Una. This time, the weather prevented that; she had to stay in the car.

Back on the road, we still expected to drive out of it some time in New York. That failed to happen. Once we got into Pennsylvania and the "white rain," as my brother calls it, was still coming down, The Gryphon called his office to find out what the weather was like in the Philadelphia area.

"Define yucky," I heard him saying. Turns out it was just rain. We had a ray of hope.

We stopped for dinner at a Waffle House near Scranton where I had, of course, a waffle and grits. Then we continued our drive and our very silly conversation, reaching home by about 9 p.m.

At some point during the trip, consulting the map, The Gryphon discovered we could have saved an hour by taking I-95 through New York. Maybe we'll do that next time.

At home, we were greeted by a mailbox full of wet mail that had been rained on all day. I'm not even certain they followed my instructions to hold the mail, which they were supposed to do. Fortunately, nothing that mattered was damaged. A couple bills have to dry out. The pink clutch I'd purchased over eBay for my Halloween costume had arrived, but fortunately, its packaging protected it. A wet welcome home, but better than snow.

More on our trip to Vermont:

October 26, 2005 - The Magic Conductor

October 27, 2005 - Foody Heaven

October 28, 2005 - Snowy Surprise

November 4, 2005 - More Vermont Pics

My last Vermont journey:

September 30, 2003 - Green Mountain Journey

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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