After several days of rain, the sun came out today and the fall color that has been creeping in on us for the last week or two was unveiled in all it’s glory. We’re in that two week period where the colors are the most vivid. Some have changed already and some are a week or so away.

I had been closeted in my office for the past two weeks, living on the computer and on the phone, so I treated myself to a morning off, climbed in the old trusty Trooper and rode to Manchester and back while the light was still good.

The woman I love had called me from her office and told me that if I hurried, I might catch some of the fog.  This is a woman who knows beauty, so I didn’t waste a moment. I picked up my camera and took off out the door. Fog is fleeting though, and much of it had burned off, with just little wisps of it catching the morning light as I drove over Rupert Mountain and down to Dorset.

She had particularly noted the graveyard in Dorset, just on the other side of town. By the time I got there, most of the fog was gone, but the light and shadows was still striking. I spent some time there, much of it thinking about the lives and loves represented in this old graveyard.

I have a weakness for old graveyards. It’s not just their forlorn beauty, it’s the reminder that every life has a story. Some are written (literally) in stone, and others reduced to ashes, but each of the people there has a story, a life, people they touched, and there is something of those lives that I always feel still lives there.

A quick run into Manchester, then back home. I stopped in Pawlet. I had read in The Vermont Guide of a gallery showing of Marion McChesney and Donna Mara in “The Barn Shop”. The showing wasn’t until tomorrow, but I saw it was open and decided to stop. Marion McChesney was inside setting up and graciously let me come in and look around.

Marion is known around here as “the Pawlet Potter” and has a pottery studio just outside town. She’s been featured in magazines galore as well as television and galleries. She’s also a wonderfully nice person. We talked as I looked around.

The other artist showing there, I was not familiar with, although I understand I may be the only one in Vermont who is not. Her name is Dona Mara and her work sang to me, vibrant and rich. Some of it familiar themes like Vermont Landscapes, and some of it (some of the most compelling), more abstract.

There are some artists who find a groove and run with it most all of their lives. They are instantly recognizable by their singular style. These two however, change, experiment, strive, grow. Like Picasso and others, you can see a their work transition from one place to another, and I love that. It’s very real and to me, is not just art, but something that shows their growth as people. I can identify with them as well as enjoy them. If you are wandering this weekend or next, I’d highly recommend stopping and treating yourself.

From the Barn Shop I took a short walk around Pawlet. There is a new restaurant there, The Pawlet Station, in an old train station building that was moved to Pawlet years ago. It opened just this week and everyone is excited to have it. Open for breakfast and lunch. No, I haven’t been yet, but I will. It was wonderful to see it all cleaned up and open for business.  It adds life to our town.

Pawlet Station is next to The Lampshade Lady shop (technically Lake’s Lampshades). Judy Lake was setting some linens out in the sun and we talked a while, soaking in the sun and being thoroughly entertained by her tree climbing cat.

And from Pawlet, home and back to my computer. The brilliant morning light was being replaced by the brighter light of mid-morning. I grabbed one or two more shots before the colors began to fade in the bright daylight.

Fall is fleeting. At least this brief time when the colors are bright and the leaves have not been ravaged by rain and wind. Too often the bright season comes and goes so quickly that we hardly have time to stop and take it in.

Today was an exception, the combination of a perfect day, being able to break loose from the day to day, and soak in God’s beauty, the magic of art, the joy of my new friends here in Vermont made the morning something special.

If you are thinking of coming to Vermont to take in the fall colors. Now is the time. Don’t waste it. It’s Open Studio Weekend throughout Vermont, so there are artists and artisans everywhere who are opening their studios. There is no better time. There’s a regional antique show in Manchester. There are plays and music concerts.  The hills, as they say, are alive. Come enjoy them!

Tom

PS – you can click on any of these pictures for a larger version.