Lake Bomoseen Creek

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Blip magic happened today. I took 294 photographs, from sunrise to sunset, and whittling these down to just the one to actually blip has been a ridiculously hard task. Bethanne called from downstairs a bit before 5.30 am asking if I wanted to go hunt a sunrise blip on Lake Bomoseen. From a dead sleep I was out of the house in five minutes. Bethanne's dedication to the blip cause (and this guest) is nothing less than astonishing. But we were so well rewarded for our early start with the most exquisite mists rolling around on the surface of the lake, the temperature having dropped below zero on a cold and clear night. There was actually quite a frost on the ground when we left home.

Bethanne in particular took some amazing sunrise shots and I took some beautiful photographs too beside the lake, with the sun beaming through the mist. This almost blip was a very close contender. I amazed myself that I was able to function in photographer mode as well as I did without any caffeine whatsoever! That was soon remedied on our return, plus, just as importantly, some breakfast. As some of you will already be aware, Bethanne is a woman of many talents: ex body-builder, ex stand-up comedian, well known in Germany as the Hunde Geflüster (Dog Whisperer) ... the list is endless. I found out this morning that she even rolls her own oats! I had a bowl of porridge made with freshly rolled oats and local Vermont maple syrup (lashings of syrup actually as back home it is so expensive that it has to rationed out by the teaspoon), and with no exaggeration this was the best porridge I've had in my entire life. It was a great start to the day.

Things just continued in the same vein through the afternoon with a visit to the Merck Forest and Farmland Center. I wanted to go somewhere that was new to Bethanne too and she came up with this location, which proved perfect for the clear blue skies and crystalline light that we enjoyed quite unbroken all through the afternoon. The fresh greens of the young leaves was staggeringly beautiful and this area offered a tremendous variety of forest and farm scenery, with views from the high points which extended over range upon range of distant hills and mountains. It was breathtaking.

To cap the day off we were finally presented with a spectacular sunset, not that dramatic, but with cloud finally arriving, a wonderfully subtle one, with every shade and texture imaginable in an ever-shifting dance of pattern, all witnessed from Bethanne's backyard, with India and Isabelle (my new best mates) in lively attendance. I should note that Bethanne was (tut, tut) not taking pictures at this point. She had to concede that she was blipped-out!

Bethanne, thank you for an utterly fabulous day, and honouring me so wonderfully with your own blip today (here), especially on a day when you took so many fabulous photographs without me in them! I shall treasure this blip always.