Perfect Days

In past years, I felt like the changing of the leaves whooshed into Boston, then swept out in a matter of days, leaving the trees too quickly bare. So this year, I’ve decided to really enjoy the autumn. Shai (my husband) and I took a trip this weekend into northern New England, to go “leaf-peeping,” as people around here call it. It was a weekend dedicated to enjoying the natural beauty of this region.

It was perfect! On the drive up, we saw the colors emerging on the trees and the hills rising up around us, with a dramatic cloudy sky in the background. The next morning, we woke up to a soft rain. It was too wet for the hiking we had planned. Over breakfast, Shai said to me, “You know what we can do even though it is raining? Rent a canoe!” My eyes widened, “No, I don’t want to fall in the water.” That would have been the end of it, but a few minutes later I said, “Actually, let’s try it.” The owner of the B&B where we lent me some rain gear. In a few hours, we were out on the river, in the rain, canoeing on. And it was so fun. I didn’t mind the rain.

In the afternoon, it was sunny. We set out again, and this time we drove for a while, seeing the leaves totally luminous for the first time in our visit. We visited the longest covered bridge in Vermont. Then we arrived at what was billed on our map as a “hundred mile view.” It was one of those parking areas on the side of a hill with a store that can only be described as a tourist trap. But the view was totally worth it (see above).

At night, we sat outside and looked at the stars. To a non-city-dweller, this may seem like a mundane pleasure. But to me, it was spectacular. In Boston, we are perpetually covered by a deep, royal blue sky on a clear night. The city lights are so strong that it never really gets dark here. It was incredible to just see the stars.

The next day, before heading home, we stopped in Pisgah State Park. We were tired from the canoeing, but we managed to walk a mile or two in, to where there was a pond (see right). When we paused for a moment by the water, saying nothing and being still, I was awed by the silence. There was so much of nothing to hear.

Today and tomorrow, I’ll be posting about nature, exploring the spiritual and political aspects of environmental protection. This coincides with Monday’s Blog Action Day, in which thousands of bloggers will be writing about the environment.