Quiet fall day in Averill

The day dawned cold, gray, and wet. I took the option of a sleep-in which only broke when Alan came in with an open-faced egg, ham 'n cheese sandwich to tempt me into the kitchen. It still being cold and gray, I then got back under the covers! Read until noon when I was shamed into emerging from the bedroom. To be fair, I was completing a really good novel -- Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke. I have read later novels in the series but this one is early and very engrossing. So far this trip, I have read four books and one New Yorker cover-to-cover.

After we got back from fishing yesterday, I made a yellow-split-pea soup with onions and carrots from Hans' garden plus garlic, summer savory, salt and pepper. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. We had it last night for dinner and then again today at lunch (it was that kind of day). Afterwards, we dropped by Quimby's and had a nice chat with Kevin. Rain continued on and off, pretty much eliminating hiking as an option, so we decided to take a drive over to Lewis Pond.

After Gaudette Rd ended, the road was in poor condition with some stretches verging on a complete washout. Suffice it to say that the heavy recent rains have not been kind to dirt roads. But we made it through to the Vermont section of the Silvio Conte Wildlife National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the roads got better. It was cold at Lewis Pond -- 8 degrees celsius -- with a brisk wind. Even brisker up on the overlook. Clouds were passing a high speeds, the sun periodically peeking out, and distant mountains encased in mist. rom the overlook, you really get the sense that you are in the Nulhegan basin, in a watershed. It's a great viewpoint.

As we left, though, the day was waning and we were eager to get out of the forest before twilight. Heading south we passed some large logging operations on the way to Rte 105 and the rain started again, making the dirt roads slippery. We made it safely, though, and on Rte 116 heading to Norton we saw perhaps the best rainbow of either of our lives. It was perfect, it was clear, and it was an entire arch. Too big to capture with the camera. And it went away in a flash -- sun went behind a cloud and it was gone. One minute there, the next gone.

Beautiful sunset finished the day and we headed home for a fire and supper. And the first NHL game of the season.