greybird weekend in vermont

Incase there is any confusion, the higher elevations in Vermont still have a TON of snow. The ice is "going out" of the lower rivers such as below (on the Connecticut near Brattleboro) and you can seee the chunks piled up on the side. These were small slabs, huge ones further north.


Sap buckets and lines are in place, but in many areas it has still not been consistantly warm during the day and below freezing at night to get the sap to run.



Yes, people take their cheese and cheese-making seriously around here.


"There is nothing strange about an axe with bloodstains in the barn..." -Tom Waits


These guinea fowl roost up in the rafters of Pops' spider-webbed chicken coop and have a distinct loud cackle...



Notice the wooden slats across the window above -stops the horses (or cows, long gone now) from pushing through the glass. Below; cribbing.



Up on Stratton the 29th US Open took place; Japan's Kazuhiro Kokubo repeated for the men and Kelly Clark continued her resurgance dominance with a 5th Open halfpipe title. The Open has long trumpeted, and rightly been proud, that the prize money is equal across genders but the live web/telecast didn't start till after the women's final... that strikes me as a mis-cue.



Snap review; had a blast, met a bunch of old and some new friends. Heard a classic euphamism; "mahogany ridge" -meaning that third place, the gargle factory, you know, Grizzly's... There were tons of parents and kids out, and after the finals they had a juniors practice session (they came swarming over the pipe like ants), v cool to see. Official pics from the day over at FaceBook/Burton.