Do you ever take a mini-vacation in your own backyard? If not, try it. It’s a great way to remember why we live here. Last weekend on a perfect fall day, after we finished the obligatory weekend chores, we took ourselves to a late lunch at the Warren Store where we sat outside on the deck. The sun was warm and low, the sandwiches delicious and the deck empty.
But it was Freeman Brook, babbling loudly (and at a very low volume) over the rocks that kept us lingering after we were done eating. What a great place to sit and be serenaded by the brook. Fall is such a magnificent time in Vermont.
Not ready to return to further yard or house chores, we detoured home via Brook Road and East Warren Road. The Round Barn was getting set up for a wedding. We came back down onto Bridge Street and decided to stop and check out Waitsfield’s pocket park and the river.
We wandered along the riverbank, by some folks in wedding attire sipping beverages at the café tables before continuing on one of the paths that led through a hedge of knotweed to the river, a bit upstream of the huge gravel bar that people use as a beach.
(True confession: we are the ultimate river nerds, seeking out rivers wherever we go and regularly inspecting and visiting our own rivers.)
Marveling at the extremely low flow and guessing at how many cubic feet per second it might be, we took time to admire the large rocky fingers that extend from the east side of the river into its bed.
With the water as low as it is right now, we were able to cross some exposed rocks to get to the beach sandbar where we examined the long ledge that keeps the bank on the east side of river from yielding to flood waters, protecting the houses closest to the covered bridge. We checked out that low spot before the ledge begins which allows the field beyond to flood.
That was it, our mini-vacation in our own backyard on a gorgeous fall day. There’s a lot to see here if you take the time and open your eyes. Ski it if you can and see it if you can. -LAL
