Vermont Route 100

A sunny week followed by spring showers, a landscape on speed, an explosion of lush green energy, the white of birch trees in sharp contrast.

Last week a chance to travel Vermont Route 100 north between West Dover and Waterbury. Only wished I had more time to meander, and pause along the way. A beautiful stretch of road along rivers and lakes, carved through lowlands and uplands, over rolling hills studded with eclectic barns. Strips of farmland and small patches of townscapes tucked into large areas of forest. Ski areas and mountain vistas and big sky, crisp and bright blue. A slice of Vermont, iconic small town centers, freshly plowed farm-fields, narrow river valleys. The take-away-your-breath beauty in harsh contrast to the devastation of last summer’s Hurricane Irene. Debris in place of green pastures and yards, tangles of concrete, tree roots, stones and tree trunks, houses uprooted and tossed down-river. In a sea of sand, a lone clump of daffodils in sunny yellow bloom, defiant.