Okay, so I never went without electricity or warm water, but I did go without internet for a few days. It’s not something I thought I would complain about. I had a few moments in which I thought, “Oh, I’d like to see what’s going on in the blogosphere, check my email, make sure I have enough money in my account for the thing I’m about to purchase. Etc.” This is as far “off the grid” as I get.

But the real moment of internet lust happened because of a tick. I let out a stream of curses in the middle of the night and expressed in every conceivable way Lyme disease scenarios. Then my second nature kicked in and I said to myself, “I need to Google how to kill ticks” OR “How not to die of Lyme disease.” But alas, no Google was available. I tried to remember what to do, but I kept getting bee-scorpion-spider-rattlesnake bite advice mixed up. I cursed Vermont and said, not-so-silently, “This year for leaf-peeping and maple syrup had better be the best. Ever.” Then I had to believe my husband’s wisdom as he stuck a lit match up to the tender flesh on my side. My faith was not where it should be. I squirmed and screamed; therefore, he burned the hell out of me. But the tick remained, undeterred.

So I pulled this thing out with my bare fingers, nearly passed out, took a couple of Tylenol and pissed and moaned for so long that my poor husband had to take a sleeping pill to get to sleep.

But I can’t complain too much. I still have this:

And this (my first kayaking expedition…here I am looking for spiders):

And the best cider in the whole wide world: (Scott farm is next door to Rudyard Kipling’s residence, and it’s the filming location of Cider House Rules):

So…I will be in and out for the next week or so. Sorry if I miss your wonderful posts in the meantime! Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up.