Thanks guys for stopping by and saying hello ... all are welcome.
On the return visit to South Hero Island, Vermont (Green Mountains, en francais!) at the end of the summer of '17 to pick-up the boy - whom I call Little Buddy* - I left earlier on a late August Saturday. The sights and scents of summer coming to an end tweaked the sensations, as the deciduous trees prepared to stop feeding their leaves. Being by myself with no need to converse, I had the windows and sunroof open; I'm one of those guys who likes the fact my coupe has this feature.
Once onto I-89 the rhythm of the road changes slightly in that every couple of miles there are turarounds between the two directions for law enforcement's use. Some of these you can see from afar, but others can surprise an out-of-stater like me. I was euphorically "making time" when I crested a ridge, saw a turnaround just in front and to the left and ... boom... a Vermont State Police Ford Explorer. I drive a lot for my job and have developed a pretty good feel for when I'm going to get nailed, and sure enough he lit up his lights and ... didn't move. My kind of law enforcement: he was asking me to slow down, and I did, but no pursuit, no pulling me over or making an example of me.
I arrived at the camp to find the boy had made great friends over his summer at this most rustic of camps, where he'd washed dishes all summer, literally 100'/30m from the shores of Lake Champlain, water lapping gently against the rocks and gnarled pine trees. It's a camp where cell phones and laptops are tightly controlled and guests, many of whom have been coming for 3+ generations, all choose to slow down, read books and do wholesome stuff. That said, it would drive
me nuts.
We packed up his stuff and headed home, not saying much and both happy, albeit for differing reasons. When we hit traffic, the SPAL fan did it's thing and the oil temp needle didn't cause consternation.
* Calling my younger son Little Buddy: after a classic Columbo episode where Johnny Cash plays the role of a murderous yet sympathetic country/western star; we the audience actually feel like we too would have disposed of the two women standing in his way (especially since the older one was a pious Bible-thumper). The villain's plan was almost perfect but, of course, Columbo finds the flaw and just keeps chipping away at him.
Just as with the best of these early Columbo's, the bad guys really aren't THAT bad, and they all develop respect for the ruffled and seemingly scatterbrained detective, as also played-out in the episode with Donald Pleasance as the perpetrator of fraticide in order to preserve the family winery. Johnny Cash plays the role beautifully and starts calling Columbo "Little Buddy". What else is a Dad, himself a kid of the 1970's, to do other than introduce his own offspring to classic TV shows?
Kind regards,
John