You visitors are so lucky.

[pwt54]

You visitors are Lucky. You are here for just a few days. I live here, so I don't experience the excitement that you do. I've seen it all and have been everywhere in VT. I have to go out of State to have that kind of excitement.

[Andy]

Phil: I know what you mean. Part of what I wrote in my own "musing" was premised on wondering if the reason I find my current home so blaise is because living here day in and day out, I take things for granted that visitors see and find exciting.

I wonder if I didn't take Vermont a little bit for granted before I moved away. I also think visitors normally come during the good seasons and see Vermont in its best dressed form. Visiting during mud season may be a little bit like walking in on grandpa naked

[pwt54]

I guess that's why I enjoyed the beach so much. I mean, it's just water and sand after all. And it was so cold last year the "beach wildlife" was hibernating.

[Rockwall Tim]

I've fantasized about spending a summer in Vermont...the summer temperatures would be such a change for the better than the oppressive heat we experience in Texas. Part of the fantasy is sleeping in a cabin overlooking a valley, having all the windows open with no need for an a/c, just having the summer night sounds put me to sleep.

But...

I could never do it. Too many kids and grandkids are in Texas. And, it would require an amazing infusion of capital which is rather lacking these days. So I content myself with the occasional autumn flings and count myself blessed just to be able to do that.

[Andy]

Tim: I'll grant you it would probably be less oppressive than Texas heat.

But I spent a summer (or a few) in Vermont. It has its days when A/C can be a blessing!

[faxmachineanthem]

Funny pwt, because I've thought about how great it would be to know Vermont and it's roads like you do. But generally I think you're right. Last year I was considering moving to the Franconia area of New Hampshire for a job. I imagined myself hopping around the White Mtns and the NEK all year, photographing all the seasons. In reality I probably would have been too busy with daily life. I'd probably begin to drive past beautiful scenes without a second thought. I do sometimes think it's better to only visit a place occasionally, so that it retains that special place in your mind.

[deaner1971]

If I can I would like to just offer an alternative perspective from one of those visitors so jealous of residents.

On Saturday I flew back home from an all too brief visit to Vermont. Even more unfortunately, it is to be my only one of the year (the mixed blessings of too much work at the office and a little one I adore at home).

As you know, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were not tourism board dream days, weather-wise. So, even though I had a great time, I was left less than fulfilled (and my memory cards left less than filled).

How jealous I am of those who were able to have all of a gorgeous Saturday and Sunday weekend to look forward to. I scrambled up to Equinox Pond for an all-too-brief hand-held shoot en route to the airport. And that was the extent of the time I had where Vermont had a chance to grant to my lenses it greatest gifts of fall color.

On my way back to my car, I stopped and photographed a home. That is something I never do. Things built by man's hand, unless as part of a truly urban landscape, are not my focus. And, in fairness, it wasn't my real objective in this case.

My eye was initially drawn by an American flag, illuminated by the early morning light and its primary colors standing in stark contrast to the subtle hues of the clouds lit to pastel perfection by the still rising sun. I couldn't help but be covetous of the lucky soul who gets to step out of their door and look across the Battenkill Valley.

That person need only wish it and it is there. In that alternative world, the cost of my airline ticket replaced by their desire to sacrifice a little sleep. My hours spent in far-flung airports and soaring tin cans replaced by padding across their living room or, worst case scenario, a brief drive. My desperate uncertainty over weather forecasts and the vagaries of the trees' plans for a fall fashion show replaced with a certainty that if today isn't what is desired, likely tomorrow will be.

How I wished I could trade places with him/her in that moment as I closed my car door on Vermont one last time and struck off toward Albany and a well appointed aerial paddy wagon returning me to flat lands and demure leaves.

In a way, you make me feel better knowing that perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to envy. That being said, I'd sure love to get to enjoy the transition from temporary to torpor.

[Utah Baker]

Well here's a twist, use to be that the out of state license plates most commonly seen here where from our neighboring states, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. I have noticed in the last five of so years that (particulary from Nov. to April) I see more Vermont plates than anything else. I am assuming they are mostly young adults coming to work at the ski resorts for the winter. But it always makes me smile and want to honk my horn!

But my husband and I too dream of maybe retiring to Vermont, each trip we talk of looking for land, but then I am yanked back to realitiy, as I realize I am Mom and Grandma first and this is where family is.