Love Affair

I have never so quickly and so completely fallen in love as I have fallen in love with Vermont.

As I was driving up on Sunday, I got so lost in the views. I am not a great lover of nature, but I do appreciate a nice panoramic every now and then. But I could just stare and stare. Even on campus at UVM, outside the window of my dorm room, you can see these huge amazing mountains out there, waaaaay in the distance, all dark. And you can tell that they're miles in the distance from the clouds that lead up to them. I love that, when you can see that in the sky. I've only seen that one other time, and it wasn't in a place that has mountains.

And God, the weather here. I have never experienced such lovely, cool, temperate weather this late in the summer. The breeze is cool, the sun is warm, there's very little humidity, and incredibly pretty clouds. The air is so freaking clean here, it's like being up at Acadia all the time. The grass is all pretty and green, the trees are healthy, the natural terrain of the place hasn't been messed with. Burlington, and Vermont, is just so...natural.

The downtown is fucking adorable, too. I mean, the big chains are far away, except for a few unavoidable college town moneymakers (Macy's, Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, Barnes and Noble). All of College street is closed to traffic -- it's completely walkable. Up and down the street, my dirty hippie breatheren are playing guitars and singing for change. I couldn't help it; I, who after years of living in DC thought I was immune to that "spare a dime" bullshit, gave out my carefully guarded quarters like candy. I nearly lost my mind when I came across a small cafe and tea shop that specializes in loose-leaf tea. No one does that!! I mean, loose-leaf tea! And then I found this great little chocolate shop that had sea salt caramels! These days, you can only find those online! I'm seriously thinking of moving here just for those two shops.

So tonight, I was dressed up a bit for dinner with an alumna. I wasn't wearing anything special, a pink jersey dress, black flats, white zip-up. I had all my hair loose (I've taken to pinning it up these days -- I don't have the time to straighten it, and the cut makes it do odd things when I leave it be), and some make-up on. I mean, I looked nice, nicer than during the conference day (casual clothes for this one, not business casual, thank God), but by no accounts amazing or anything. Just ok. And I swear, I got more once (and twice) overs tonight than in my entire life combined. I got hit on, out loud, in public, not at a bar. And it wasn't skeevy, it was hippie style. Friendly. Kind. I mean, in this strange, Vermonty world, I am sexy! I am attractive! I am kind of the ideal!

Being in Burlington makes me long for my hippie days of yore. There was a simplicity to it, really. It's kind of who I am at heart, and it was easier when I didn't have to fight that. I didn't have to remind myself to straighten my hair in the mornings, wear heels instead of Birkenstocks, dress pants instead of a flowy dress. Someday, maybe, I'll move to Vermont. I never really thought I'd fall in love with it like I did. I didn't think any place had the ability to pull me in like that. People tend to captivate me, not places. But I guess there's a first time for everything.

(For the record, I felt this way about Florence when I visited. So I guess it's not the first time, but damn close.)