Vermont

We had a wonderful weekend in Southern Vermont, mixing a little bridge and a little hiking with just plain taking it easy.  This picture is from the top of Shrewsbury Peak (3710'), number 21 on the Vermont list, which we hiked on Friday morning (we were on the trail at 7:30am to beat the heat).  We're looking East towards Bald Mountain (3315') and thence to Ascutney (3143'), I think.  Pixie needed a ride up the steep part of the trail but otherwise was fine.

We rented a small cottage (right) down a long grassy driveway off a dirt road in a quiet part of the state (West Windsor, to be precise).  What a lovely spot!  There were barred owls nearby (heard only), yellowthroats, wood thrushes, robins and various other unidentified birds.  Out the back are trails heading up and around Hurricane Hill.  We came across an even more remote and smaller cabin.

On our way home from our first bridge session (in Rutland), we had just passed a Moose Crossing sign on a quiet road when lo and behold there was the moose (a huge ole bull, the size of a horse) in the act of crossing!  A firm application of the brakes ensured that we didn't collide.  Venison might be tasty but it would be no good if we didn't live to eat it!  On our return we heard about a fatal car/moose collision on I-95 in Maine.  Nasty.

We had some great meals, especially at a small local eatery in the middle of nowhere called Keepers.  They were serving an excellent beer called Switchback.  The dogs seemed to enjoy it all too (except the restaurant visits and bridge sessions when they were cooped up alone).  On our last day, we hiked a small portion of the Long Trail (and Appalachian Trail) down to the lovely Big Branch (see left).  Pixie seemed to really enjoy this hike.  Perhaps she's finally become a hiking dog!

Unfortunately, we were rubbish at bridge.  It's hard to switch from rustic getaway to bridge and back smoothly.  But it didn't matter one jot.  It was a wonderful place to visit.  Definitely a place we'd like to revisit.

Meanwhile, I was very happy that Spain won the World Cup.  Their skill level was considerably higher than that of any other team and while their forwards didn't always capitalize on their chances, the midfielders passed them up a seemingly endless supply of balls.  I was disappointed to see that Holland, inevitably, had to resort to a physical game and several fouls were not called.  Fortunately for those of us supporting Spain, the fairly obvious foul on Robben's scoring opportunity wasn't called either, otherwise the game would have ended in regulation time with a win for the Dutch.  All in all, a very enjoyable and well run competition.  Brazil is up next in 2014.  Guess who's going to be the favorite?

Speed kills

No, this doesn't have anything to do with road accidents.  What I'm referring to is speed in football (soccer in the US).  This World Cup has demonstrably answered the old question: speed or experience?  No game exemplified the dichotomy as clearly as that between perennial rivals Germany and England.  England went with a very experienced team, sidelining the one player (IMO) on the team with any turn of speed, Aaron Lennon.  Germany went with youth and speed, with one notable exception.  The result was depressingly predictable.  Germany's one exception, 32-year-old Miroslav Klose, was nevertheless the fast man on Germany's goal kick which went deep into England territory and where the English defenders were simply outrun.  Klose continues to dominate defenders through his speed as he did against Argentina.

Meanwhile, our weather (sunny and 89F as I write this on July 4th) has been lovely lately.  Just like the good old days.  It's been relatively dry and hot.  The mosquitoes appear to be a thing of the past.  On the debit side, the grass everywhere is looking parched.

We really enjoyed watching Invictus. What a great story: the role of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in the crucial early months of a new (or reborn) nation.  It reminded me what a great game Rugby is.

For our annual fireworks show, we selected Lincoln this year.  For some reason, the fireworks displays of the various towns were on any of three different evenings, the 2nd (e.g. Bedford), the 3rd (e.g. Harvard, where we went last year), and the 4th (e.g. Lincoln and of course Boston).  It's interesting to compare the experiences of these two years, perhaps with a mark for the various aspects (all very subjective of course):

Feature	Weight	Harvard (2009)	Lincoln (2010)
Fireworks Length	3	9 (a good length)	9 (a bit too long)
Fireworks Quality	4	8 (very good)	9 (excellent)
Viewing Distance	2	8 (good)	10 (maybe a bit too close)
Scenery/Atmosphere	4	10 (fantastic)	6 (zilch)
Space	3	10 (spacious)	5 (sardines)
Wait to get in	1	10 (what wait?)	7 (long delay)
Wait to get out	2	7 (wet grass: delays)	7 (so many cars!)
Facilities	1	7 (OK)	6 (what facilities?)
National Anthem	1	7 (don't recall)	9 (lovely)
Weather	3	8 (short shower)	10 (perfect)
Bugs	2	8 (mucho deet)	10 (what bugs?)
Finding the way back to car	1	9 (no worries)	6 (night orienteering)
Vehicular transportation	1	7 (two cars)	10 (brand new Murano)
Overall	28	7.57	7.04

Today the good weather broke somewhat. The temperature was high 97F with a little more humidity (82%). Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter and stickier.

World Cup and Bridge Ups and Downs

Here we are playing Germany in the round of 16.  It's tense.  The problem is that it isn't the final, nor the semis, nor even the quarter final.  One of these teams will be going home after today.

Yet, I think the World Cup is better for all that.  The Europeans no longer dominate as they once did.  All five South American teams made it through to the round of 16 and one each from Central America (Mexico) and North America (USA).  There are two teams from Asia (South Korea and Japan)!  Only one team from Africa (they probably deserve better) and six from Europe.

It's half time and already it's the usual heartbreak for England.  An erroneous offside call in the first few minutes robbed Rooney of a chance to score and then there was the equalizing goal that was disallowed even though it was obvious from all angles that the ball went into the goalmouth.

Meanwhile, we had a great time at the bridge tournament in Sturbridge.  Some of the highlights were culinary.  A great dinner at Bocado in Worcester on Friday and then a terrific picnic at a lake cottage (no mosquitoes!).  Pixie was in her element.  Who knew that she was a party dog?  She loved it.  With 30 people, you'd think she'd have plenty opportunity to bark.  But she never did.  She let everyone pet her.

There were also some highlights (Kim/Donna won a side game simultaneously with my and my teammates winning a single-session Swiss).  On Thursday, I was part of a team that placed in an open Swiss.  But yesterday's bridge was unfortunately one of the low-lights.  I had a good time playing with my partner Peter but the bridge gods were definitely not on our side (see my bridge blog: Sometimes You're the Windshield...).

A day at the beach

What a wonderful day we had!  We went to Rexhame beach in Marshfield, one of only two Massachusetts that allow dogs during the summer days.  The dogs must be leashed, although they don't specify that the leash has to be tied to anything at the other end!  Several beachgoers, including ourselves, took advantage of this slovenly wording (as W.S. Gilbert put it) to allow our dogs a little more freedom of movement than they otherwise might get.  All five of us enjoyed the day very much.  The photo (play "spot the dogs") shows the other four under our new parasol, which worked brilliantly.

Puga had great fun chasing a gull (greater black backed?), including a (leash-less) swim of about 10 yards seaward.  Here (left) she is plucking up courage for the chase.  As you can see, this part of the beach was not at all crowded.  Here, we are looking towards Scituate.

And here (right) are Kim and Pixie (the latter in her favorite place).  Last evening, we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua (well, we skipped a bit).  But we realized that Pixie is a dead ringer for Chloe.

We will celebrate "Fathers' Day" on Wednesday when Miranda returns and, with Will, we watch England's last gasp effort to get into the World Cup knockout rounds.  They will be playing Slovenia, having tied the U.S. and Algeria, the best French team in the event (17 of the 23 were born in France).  It should be an easy win, but it won't be.  So far, the team has been pathetic.  They couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding!  What with ineptitude in the goal and middle-aged torpor among the strikers (yes, Mr. Rooney, that's you), England is embarrassing us all.

But we now have some good bridge to look forward to (K & I will be on the same team but at different tables).  And we're planning a little belated celebration of June 12th at a much recommended authentic Italian trattoria in Belmont (or should that be Belmonte?).