Today is our day off and we sure were in need of it.
I have raised my feet, put ice on my ankle so far this morning and finished Janet Heartson (our last B&B hostess)'s book Extraordinary Moments in an Ordinary Life._I like a quote by Goethe that Janet has in her book: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
I am answering messages. My niece Alexis has asked where we are going, for what cause or reason. I have not explained this, and it would have been good for a post 2. Here is my answer to her:
Nous marchons jusqu'à Deerfield, au Massachussetts. Nous avons commencé à Montréal, plus spécifiquement au Sault-au-Récollet. On nous demande si c'est pour une cause. Ce ne l'est pas. Plutôt c'est une performance artistique de ma part. Je le fais pour raconter l'histoire de notre arrière-...-grand-mère Abigail Nims, qui comme sa mère Mehitable et son frère Ebeneezer et 109 autres furent capturés et amenés en Nouvelle-France en mars 1704. Abigail a vécu le restant de ses jours dans la région de Montréal. Dans un sens, c'est comme si je retournais pour elle! Entre temps, j'apprends ce que c'est de marcher presque 500 kms. Et je pense qui aurait pu être témoin de cet évènement de l'hiver 1704. Et ce que ce groupe de 50 français, 200 autochtones, et plus de 100 captifs auraient pu manger en route. Nous suivons la route qu'ils ont suivi, le long de cours d'eau (la rivière Richelieu, le lac Champlain, les rivières Wells et Connecticut) autant que possible.
Dean made pancakes, from scratch, for the second time since our journey began. However, let me be clear, that he didn't have to make the various flours he adds to the batter. Again we were thankful. We enjoyed them with butter and maple syrup received from my friends' farm in Quebec.
It is easier to be indoors and relaxing than outside in coolish weather. Pauline and I shared that it was good to be at a B&B for our day off.
The day warmed up gradually. I went out to check out the property where we have our B&B. It is the whole house along a country road in Alstead, New Hampshire. I was attracted to the pond so headed down the hill.
I noticed three violets in bloom!!! The sun was shining on the pond. I noticed a lot of dragonfly activity. I was able to get close and photograph some. I would have liked to touch one but my hand movement scared them away. Perhaps as was not as patient and slow-moving as when I have my iPhone in my hands.
So I thought I'd sit on the tall stump at the pond's edge (not visible in photo.) Tried to brush off the thicket creeper, but one of my fingers discovered a thorny bush was growing over it too. So I winded up sitting in the grass instead noticing the dragonflies. A golden-coloured dragonfly kept landing on a brown grass blade. Can dragonflies see colour? Why are they mating at this time of year? Where do they go in winter? It was 1:07 pm and thought it would be a good meditation to just sit still for a while. I bent my legs and wrapped my hands around my knees.
I could feel the sun warming my right arm. Next thing I knew, a red dragonfly had landed on my right hand. I'd been moving my eyes up and down and side to side, exercising them. It took a brief second to focus my eyes on this dragonfly. It was so close with no camera between us. And it was a beautiful red_cadmium, light or medium? I admired its tail, like a scouring rush. Did it nod its head then? Before it left, I felt another landing on my left hand! I glanced over to see a pair of dragonflies coupled, joined together in a vertical line, like two train wagons! They have an interesting configuration I have observed on my own pond. They remained there a while then all were gone. I wished for them to come back so continued to sit (Janet Heartson's book Extraordinary Moments in an Ordinary Mind being fresh on my mind.) Only when I started my quiet eye exercises did they come back. The couple returned to my left hand again_slightly different colours_not sure of their gender. I could see the chi pulsing through them. After they left, the single red one chose to return to my right hand. It alighted three more times. Its tiny legs, attached near its head, were resting on each side of one of my raised veins. I admired the gossamer, gold-tinged wings. I thought I saw a glint of gold and blue on my skin! I tried moving my head as did la libellule rouge. It was not possible to photograph them while they were on my hands, and no one found me sitting by the pond. When I looked at the time, it was 1:35 p.m.
I returned, maybe 25 minutes later, but the sun was no longer beaming down on the pond and the dragonflies had gone elsewhere.
We put a wash in the washing machine, table cloth, tea towel and bath towels. We made a list of food and other supplies we needed and headed out to Walpole, NH and Bellows Falls, Vt. We found everything we needed but not the "Second Skin" bandages my brother Henri had recommended by email earlier in the day.
Kim, our B&B hostess would be picking up our wash around 6 or 6:30 after her work so we wanted to be back early. Her B&B advertised there was a dryer here but there wasn't so she has offered to pick it up, dry it at her home and return it here. It's very good of her to do so.
Anyway she had also left us recommendations for eating establishments. We had eaten at Poppolo's in Bellows Falls, Vermont_just over the bridge, last night and all three of us had loved it. So we thought we would take her recommendation for simple and cheap_at Walpole Village Inn in Walpole, New Hampshire. We got there before dinner was served and were given a tour by Mary, sort of "mother" of the place. It was established in 1762!
When Bobby the bartender returned we sat on the porch surrounded by asters that looked like New England asters but perhaps were cultivated. The bees loved them. Pauline, Dean and I had fun taking photos of them. Pauline got braver with each additional photo she took. It is not easy to take photos of busy bees; they just keep moving!
Bobby came back with a handful of the asters and dropped them in a blue vase. This place certainly knew how to produce a simple elegance!
Bobby also regaled us of tales about the Inn_that there were tunnels there and at a related potato barns for people to escape to the river. During conscription days there was a stone bar in the basement, a speakeasy (I did not know before tonight what the word meant!) And there was a tunnel from the street as well to enter the bar.
After reading the menu more attentively, we noticed there were a lot of dishes with peppers. Dean decided to go down the street to look for something else. The folks were so gracious and the place so unlike camping, that Pauline and I stayed. Besides I was having a glass of Malbec from Argentina! We decided to go in the bar/dining room to have our meal. Pauline had ordered Zucchini noodles and thought it was very good. I ordered a trout. We ordered side dishes of grilled asparagus and herbed potatoes. Delicious. Then, Pauline and I split an upside-down pineapple cake covered with ice-cream made just a half-mile down the road! As we paid for our meals, the place was filling up.
Dean joined us back at the car. He had found the restaurant down the road that Bobby, the bartender had recommended. Dean had had a dish of spaghetti very much to his liking. Pauline and I had not only talked some more in French but had gotten to know that Bobby and his wife had burros, goats, turtles, rescues of every sort and that Mary, a couple of years younger than Pauline and I, was delighted to teach her grandson of 3 about respecting insects and particularly bees and was looking forward to the family's anticipated move back from Boston, Massachusetts. Mary is on Facebook but I was not able to find her; maybe I have remembered her last name incorrectly. There were certainly no icon photos of Mary's by her name proudly holding a grandson on her lap.
Dean had texted Kim that we would be back a little later. She came to get our wet clothes. Tiny ants were gathering around our jar of Hamilton wildflower honey so we quickly washed it off and placed it in the microwave.
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