from fall to winter

The fall foliage has been simply amazing this year. I've never lived somewhere that has tree after tree filled with such beauty. Honestly, it is like walking through a constant fireworks display. Can you tell I'm smitten with New England in the fall??

It is a such a quick phase though. In just one day the tree in our neighbor's yard went from a brilliant orange, to a rusty brown. Today half of its leaves are already gone. One more good rainstorm and it will be a bare tree, reminding us that winter is close by.


And with that I offer you this email that was sent to me by Dawn. It references Vermont throughout, but it 100% describes Maine too.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Vermont. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Vermont . If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Vermont. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Vermont. If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in Vermont. If you measure distance in hours, you live in Vermont. If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Vermont. If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Vermont. If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in Vermont. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Vermont. If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in Vermont. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Vermont. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, mud season and road construction season, you live in Vermont. If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in Vermont. If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in Vermont. If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your Vermont friends & others, you live in Vermont. --