Balmy weather--72 degrees at mid-day! I was playing with all of my seeds (planting some and devising growing strategies for some of the others) when I got a phone call from one of my bosses at Gore informing me that they'd be closed mid-week next week and the following week and would no longer need me.

"Please keep me in mind for next year," I said.

She was quick to reassure me. "Oh, yes, we'll probably be contacting you again sometime in October."

So I'm laid off. And I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to people. When I told Ken this, he reminded me I could drive over on Sunday--that no one would mind if I dropped in to say hello and goodbye.

Being out of work feels so strange. I started working there two weeks after we moved in, on January 1st. In a way, I've never had seven free days a week since we've lived here, unless you count the peculiar and chaotic days unpacking boxes. I told Ken I'd start to look for another job next week. "Don't be in too much of a hurry," he said. "You seem tired. Why don't you take some time off?"

But I'm worried about all the other laid-off people getting a job that might be perfect for me. Hmmm... I'll think about it and lay out a game plan in the next few days.

Yesterday Ken and I drove north to Essex, New York, to take the ferry across Lake Champlain to Charlotte, Vermont, the wee road trip we planned for our 20th anniversary. We drove to Vergennes, and then to Middlebury, and had a nice lunch there, but you know what? Vermont has become over-populated and the whole day was kind of disappointing. Of course late March is not Vermont's most beautiful time, the fields being a sea of brown grasses, but I couldn't even find a decent cup of coffee, even after going several places. I'm sounding cranky now; but this part of Vermont has changed so much. I suppose it's spillover urban sprawl from Burlington that's the culprit. I don't think we'll be rushing back.

This morning Sophie and I found another new trail that led us after a distance to another abandoned house, complete with a red barn. So curious--these sad, strange houses that appear in the middle of the woods. I'm going to have to ask people about the ones I've found recently.

Sophie found a huge mudhole to jump into. Farther on, I got her to swim in a lovely creek with rushing water. It cooled her off and was very cleansing.

Tomorrow rain is forecast, but after our run of incredible weather, I guess we're due. I'd love to immerse myself in some fiction writing. Must do!