Mrs 9s and I went away for a quick weekend excursion to Vermont and we took these pictures that I will now share with you!



Here's our hotel room. It was pretty freaking quaint!



It had this separate little sitting room. There was no tv, which was to be expected, and there was no phone!

Across the street there was this church and attached to the church was this graveyard...and here is the headstone of someone who faought during the revolutionary war:



In this small town of Grafton, not far from where we stayed, there was this Blacksmith's shop that you see here...



...and inside there was an actual blacksmith making stuff.



We also stopped at the Rockingham Meeting House, this old building where they used to have church services and town meetings, before the town which surrounds the Meeting House burned to the ground in 'aught 1.

Here is me in the pulpit with my raised fist, haranguing the congregation...



I bet that's what bluesbaby is like when she preaches...



Finally (well finally for now) we went and saw the house in Shaftesbury where the great American poet Robert Frost once lived. In fact it was in this house where he wrote perhaps his most famous poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," with that famous concluding line "and miles to go before I sleep..."

Here's a view of the inside:



And now for the moment that made our trip.



Out behind Frosts's house was this garage that didn't seem to be open to the public. The land was very well tended, as you can imagine, so there was probably a caretaker who kept his stuff in there. There was this green John Deere tractor parked facing into the garage and I thought to myself "wouldn't that make a good picture, me on a tractor!" but it didn't look that appealing from a distance. But when I got closer I saw, behind this little modern riding mower (for it came to little else), all the way in the back, behind tools and beams, covered in dust and laced with spider webs, and was this...






















































That's right, baby, Robert Frost's tractor!






something there is that does not love an edit...
[Edited 10/4/05 8:59am]

What happened to your congregation? it looks like they all ran off

Cool Pics 9s! As for you on the tractor..I've seen some sights in my time but this has to rank up there with the " scary but you cant help looking at it," category.

2the9s said:

nice pics.....that hotel looks nice.

LleeLlee said:

I don't allow bathroom breaks so they probably all went to the hospital!





Yeah, it's fantastic, isn't it?





.
[Edited 10/4/05 9:06am]

Is that mrs 9s in the third picture?

2the9s said:

fantastic isn't the first word that came to mind, but yeah...it is amazing..

Great pics. Particularly like the fist-raising one.

That sounded rude, somehow.

Anyway, how come Lleena's on the left of the Blacksmith photo?

Great pics ... love the tractor!

retina said:

Yes!

And here's one for Jersey and CarrieLee...




This was a very BoSox lovin' town!

LleeLlee said:

"Amazing" doesn't sound like it was the first word either!

Nice pics 9s

AndGodCreatedMe said:

Thank you!

Here's one I almost forgot. Outside behind the Rockighman Meeting House there was this old garage (don't worry, this story doesn't end with me riding a tractor (though it might be something some peole might like to see my riding in! )). The caretaker gave us the keys to go see inside (he said he was too old and had emphysema). When we opened the door, we saw this:



A hearse!

Can someone make that into a holiday avatar for me?

That pic of the blacksmith house is the stuff of fairy tales

Like at any moment there's a huge giant stepping out holloring: tresspassers with pregnant women will be eaten!!

TheFrog said:

That is mrs 9s froggy, she is one brave lady

2the9s said:

What a rust bucket. still, it looks in better condition than your car.

2the9s said:

She looks like she's thinking "oh come on, do you have to take a picture of everything?". Nice to see what you two look like. She messed up the tractor pic though.

I bet you imagined the whole org listening to and obeying you in the "preacher" pic.

.

LleeLlee said:

yeah, i'm being silly.

It looks like a cool, slightly macabre (what with the hearse, the emphysema, the grave...) holiday.

nice to see both of you by the way, 9s. Even though i'm not strictly replying to you, this bit is actually directed at you.

TheFrog said:

I know what you mean! I think 9s likes the macabre and that old guy with the emphysema, I'l bet 9s scared him thats why he just handed the keys over and made an excuse about being old.

Great pictures..

Mrs. 9s belly is growing!

I especially found the tractor picture appropriate..

LleeLlee said:

I love it when peeps talk about 9s like he's not here

Nice photos! Where's the foilage?

sag10 said:

Why, sag?

DiminutiveRocker said:

It hadn't started changing yet!!

2the9s said:

GO back, then!

9s, what's with the blurry fuckin' pictures? I half expect you to be blurry when we meet in March.

9s, you intrigue me .....(I never said that about a man.....except for Nana!)

Stymie said:

You'll be blurry, cause I'll be drinking!

I like the pics....Vermont is beautiful....

No TV or phone??? how about a wireless router?

abierman said:

It's like Kufstein in places!