Food for Thought

I'm back!

The drive through New Hampshire and Vermont was spectacular. Mother nature is so beautiful and amazing. It leaves me thinking with so many questions and thoughts. When I drove (hubby and baby asleep in back) my eyes and mind kept wandering...

- The mountains were just waves and waves of green trees. For those of you that don't know, I love trees!!! Trees with flowers, trees with just leaves, even bare trees and burnt trees. I write about them, draw them, and as you've read in previous blogs, they are part of my happy place and my rest in peace place. So you can imagine I was in heaven on this scenic drive...trees for miles...I never saw so many trees at once. I wondered what was underneath all those trees. I must of skipped geography class. What are mountains made of? Granite rock? Dirt? Is it just trees? If you mowed down all the trees what would be left? Would the massive shape of the mountain still be there or would it be half the size? Wouldn't be cool if an artist gave all the trees a haircut and re-shaped the mountain to look like something else? Like spiky hair or mohawks! The curves of the mountains were so natural and real, like a womans healthy body...it was amazing how all the trees were exactly the same height at all the right places. I did see a few taller ones that stood out...they like to be noticed I guess. The fall must be the best time of the year to drive this route. How do these trees survive with no maintenance and no care? They survive the harsh winters and still manage to bloom millions of leaves, so much so, that the the surface of the mountain is unseen.

- The clouds were touching the mountains, I wonder if I was up at the top of the mountain would I be able to feel the clouds (probably something I missed in science class). What would it feel like, cotton candy?

-I would see in the median of the highway patches of wildflower...purple, pink and white...they were so beautiful as if someone intentionally planted them...How did they get there? Again another lesson in science class...Something about pollenation right? Anyway, it was weird because they were just scattered tiny patches here and there, but so pretty! Most people couldn't keep them in their own yards.

- Road signs you wouldn't see in Florida: -Moose Crossing - Bear Crossing - Deer Crossing -Falling Rocks (yes watch out for falling rocks - I guess you are supposed to be able to weave in and about during falling rocks! - no rocks falling when I drove - whew!) And Something about low salt (having to do with the snowy times)....oh and also - Bridge freezes first before road (or something like that).

-The highway (route 89 South) was long! I tried using cruise control, but forget about it! It goes up and up, then down and down, all the meanwhile curving round and round. Was the highway built all at once? How long did it take to build? They had to cut through the mountains to build this highway...that is very hard to imagine for me. I mean the highway was like driving a mountain itself...it had valleys and peaks...my ears were even popping during the ups and downs. How come there are no mountains in Florida? They have them in California? One day, Mathew will answer a lot of these science questions for me when he starts school...ha!

-Border crossing - How is the whole border protected? Whats to say that someone cant walk across the border (either way) by foot through the mountains? Do they have a fence along the whole border (impossible!)? Video cameras (impossible)? I mean really the whole border cannot be protected. When we crossed the border, to our right and to our left were huge forest mountains...desperation can make that trek - no problem. How is the government going to enforce stricter border policies, if someone doesn't have to drive to cross the border? How is the U.S. going to be protected by terrorists? How are we supposed to feel safe? I'm sure you have all heard about the Toronto terrorist plot. Good job by the Canadian officials who stopped their plans. Which leaves me with this question: why the hell is Bush worrying about constitutional amendments regarding same sex marriage and not about terrorists, war in Iraq, gas prices, and our economy?

Anyway...
So besides the amazing views of Mother Nature, Montreal was great! I got to see family I probably haven't seen for over 10 years! Crazy! Cousins I wouldn't even have recognized if they walked by me in the street. I hope to go back in August for one of my cousins wedding. If Mathew is walking by then, she might make him the ring bearer or something...how cute would that be?

Montreal was tough on Mathew...he didn't sleep well at all! Which means Michael was grumpy. Daddy needs his sleep or else!!!! Anyway, so that was hard, real hard! We didn't get to enjoy Saturday that much either because it was rainy, grey and cold (like Boston).

Before I go eat dessert, let me leave you with this other thought I had on our drive:
How did red barns get started? Who decided to make red barns the national symbol for all farm barns? When we say barn, we think of a red bard with white trimmings...why?

P.S. This long blog should make up for the days missed. Hope you enjoyed it!