Maybe I’m going a little stir crazy, but my eyes definitely deceived me when I took a walk tonight after dinner. Writing is so sedentary, and not having errands to do or subways to catch, I’m on my derriere for great lengths of time here in Vermont.

I wanted to add some steps to my daily count, so headed out to the dirt road my B&B is at the end of, and set my timer for 10 minutes. I’d walk in one direction for that amount of time, then head back. It’s very hilly here, and I didn’t want to find myself at the bottom of a mile-long climb back up.

As I walked away from the cabin I’m staying it, I spotted what looked like a perfectly petrified carcass of a deer. Can you see it? I continued walking and glanced back to see what it looked like from another angle. Oh, well…

The road to the property where I’m staying crosses the Appalachian Trail. I wasn’t expecting to see any humanity on this 20-minute walk, so was completely startled and delighted to catch a genuine hiker coming out of the woods looking for his next blaze. I asked if I could take his photo to document my stay. “Sure. I just hope I don’t break the camera,” he humbly replied.

I’m well into Chapter 7 which focuses on my path to being able to say ‘no’ in my life. I took an Assertiveness Training course in my late 20’s that launched my lifelong personal development curriculum.

Tomorrow I have a Skype meeting (I actually use zoom.us) with my writing coach to review what I’ve sent her over the last week. The internet in my cabin is unreliable which is fine for writing, but not fine for a streaming conversation. My host here told me about the brand new Kilton Library about 5 miles down Route 14. I stopped by there today to see the facility and found a small conference room where I could talk privately. The librarian sitting at the information desk with a sign saying “Please interrupt me,” signed me up for a time slot tomorrow. When I went online later, I saw that I could have that space FREE for up to 4 hours. All I could think of was what a similar space costs me in New York, if I could even find one that had availability.

Meals have been extremely simple during my stay. I love the space I’m in, but running water is not part of the deal. The stove consists of a single burner induction cooktop, and the sink is as simple as it gets. A three-gallon container of water with a gray water receptacle under the drain pipe. I bring my dirty dishes to the main house each night, and they’re ready for me to pick up in the morning.

In keeping with my mantra as I’ve pared down my life’s possessions, the less I have, the happier I am, life this week has been bliss.

My Vermont Stove

…and sink