there and back again: a summer story

Well. It's autumn now, far past the time when I should be telling my summer stories. But I've clearly gotten off the blogging wagon these days -- so I guess it's better late than never.  And what a summer it was, criss-crossing the country!

We started off in Santa Fe ...

 Magical Santa Fe, where we picked bundles of sagebrush and headed east. 

Through the Oklahoma panhandle, with big horizons and a stunning sunset. 

Into the green fields of corn country

And finally up the Northeast corridor 

To the Green Mountains of Vermont. Our happy place. 

Actually, Isis's happy place! 

Nothing she likes better than to cruise around the lake in the evening

It was a working vacation -- lots of writing during the day. 

But punctuated by hiking and wild blueberries

Turtle-catching in the canoe

Excursions up to the beaver pond (can you spot the little critter?)

And, yes, there was knitting

(I think I'll leave the story of that for another post, though)

But all too soon, there was a chill in the air 

telling us that summer was turning into fall.

So it was time to head home.

First down to DC, to visit family and stretch our legs at Great Falls.

Southward through the rolling hills of Virginia and Tennessee

Out through the small towns of Arkansas, 

on the hunt for legendary pie

And then, just like the like, the green hills gave way to rangeland

Big skies, dry fields, train tracks. 

(And a night in a haunted hotel in New Mexico!)

 On the last day, we made one last stop -- again for pie. 

Pie Town, NM

And then we were home in the desert.

So there you have it -- the last few months laid out in photos. I've got projects to share.  Knitting, whittling, mending, kombucha-brewing. Hopefully I'll get to them in the coming weeks. I do miss blogging in some ways, miss the connection with the community here. It's just that I've so much to do with work these days that taking the time to reflect with photos and words ends up feeling like another item on the to-do list sometimes. Will try to get the spirit back!