Raspberry Patch

"Although I have at different times grown, with more or less success, nearly all species of hardy bush fruits, I have always been partial to the red raspberry."
-- George Aiken

Two years ago, my uncle David Aiken dropped 7 or 8 raspberry plants on my porch. "For your garden," he said. At the time, we didn't have much of a garden; just a 10x20 foot plot over which I had run the tiller and constructed three cedar beds. Along the western edge, we sunk the berry bushes in the clay.

Since then, the garden has grown, and so have the berries. Each year, we have reclaimed more of the field of goldenrod that surrounds our garden, so that it is twice the size we started with. And, not wanting a berry patch right in the dead center of a vegetable garden, last weekend we dug them up and moved them -- about 25 bushes in all.

A few things to note. First, Uncle David warns me that we will be forever digging up raspberries from the original patch location. "Unless you think you got all the runners," he says, meaning "there's no way you got all the runners." Okay, I can live with that. When it comes to gardening, I generally don't like to do things right the first time anyway. Second, the new patch location is near the edge of our lawn. Another life goal nearer to accomplished: to minimize my time spent cutting grass! If David, as he promised, shows up with blackberry bushes, we'll dig up even more of the lawn and insert them.

Finally, my great grandfather George wrote that history does repeat itself. I'm not saying I'm nearly the farmer he was, but I will say that these plants descend from his berry patch in Putney, Vermont.** I don't have his green thumb, but we are, in fact, growing food at my home and putting it on the table to eat. And it's not just rewarding to keep that legacy alive; it's a lot of fun too.



**Important note: when the original berry patch was planted, one of the plants came from Sue McKain's yard in Connecticut. Does this mean the Aiken strain in my patch isn't completely pure? If yes, that's fine by me; in fact, I prefer a hybrid anyway.

Utah Where Have You Been?

This post is quite delayed; the goings-on that follow occurred a month ago! But I just can't change seasons without mentioning the past winter's crowning runs. We arrived in Utah for the 600th inch of their record-breaking year.

The suspects were the usual: David, Jill, Howard, Chris, Bob, Sue, me, John, Lisa, Ali, Em, and Jack (I believe these are in order by age). Also making appearances throughout the week were Glenn, Michelle, Kurt, and Kurt (no order here). Not much was happening weather-wise when we arrived, but the next morning, the "Stay-inside-or-else" chain was across the condo door so they could do control work on 14-20 new inches of snow. The first few days continued that way as we took turns skiing Alta and Snowbird. I took a day off in there somewhere to run 19 miles in Salt Lake City and on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail at the foot of the Wasatch. (And no, I can not explain how running 19 miles constitutes a "day off.")

The snow hit again towards the end, and Johnny and I met Colchester native Kurt Sowles for a backcountry day in Big Cottonwood Canyon and my best (and snowiest) turns of the year. What runs!

The week was full of great snow, great company, great food, hotly contested Jenga and Spot It games, and plenty of beer-(and wine)-drinking.

I couldn't believe it when the week was up. One thing is certain, though: I could live in Utah. (Wait a minute, I have lived in Utah!) Well, put it this way then: I feel the same way as Emily. From her note to Jill and Howard: "I can't wait to do it again next year!"

Gladiator

Meet the new addition to the Aiken family unit. Gladys is part border collie, part spaniel, and part unknown. She was rescued from a shelter for strays in Tennessee with a high kill rate and fostered for 3 months in Kentucky before coming north to Vermont. She went for two walks yesterday (her first full day with us) while Oscar was out running. She loves her new home and new family... and we love her!

Boston!

It was a journey, full of ups and downs, but we did it! On Patriots' Day 2011, Ali and I ran the Boston Marathon. We spent 3 days in Beantown, staying with amazing hosts the Halls. Hilary Hall impressed all by running her first-ever marathon while raising $18K for cancer research. Ali and I ran the whole race with our friend Lauren. Kristen, who qualified for the race on the same day as Ali, ran an amazing PR. Ryan Hall (we suspect some distant relation to Hilary) broke the Boston course record, but only placed 4th, while Geoffry Mutai set a world marathon record.

We were pretty cold waiting for the start, and I nearly ruptured my bladder on the bus ride to the start. Otherwise, it was a great day on the oldest marathon in the world, a great crowd, and a great weekend.

Now I can focus on the Spring's most important race: the Vermont City.

The Over-40 Club

Many people dread milestone birthdays, but I have rarely had a year start off so well. Although my birthday wasn't until Monday, festivities started on Friday when Alison, Oscar, and I went backcountry skiing (see photo) and then Ali took me out for dinner at our favorite Richmond restaurant (I had the Steak Frites). Saturday I had to work, but when I walked in the door (five minutes late) all my coworkers had a donut waiting for me with candles. After they sang their rendition of Happy Birthday to You (it was rousing, let me assure you), I made my wish -- "I want snow on my birthday" -- and blew out the candles. Saturday night, Alison threw a great party for me here at our house. What a great time. Not only did she tidy up to the point that I thought I had walked into the wrong house when I first got home, she and the other party-goers made tons of great food. (While it was all amazing, the highlight may have been Jenni's "Death by Chocolate." Wow.) Again, there were candles and singing; again, I wished for snow on my birthday. Sunday, I took a rare weekend day off and, before a birthday dinner (jumbalaya) with my dad and Jill, ran 10-miles with Ali, Oscar, and our running group -- in the rain in 35 degrees. It sucked. BUT... it was a celebration of Jan Leja's 400th organized Sunday group run. So afterwards, we all forgot about how much it stunk running in freezing rain and went to breakfast...

... where through the windows we watched the rain turn over to snow. It snowed all day and all night. And all day the next day -- my official 40th birthday! See? Birthday wishes do come true, so take them seriously. Driving to work, the interstate was the worst I have ever seen it. I called Alison and told her not to go to work. Alison called her boss, who invoked the "Powder Day Rule" and the two of them came to Stowe for the day with friends Patrick and Sarah. Work was like play, so I got to make a bunch of runs in unbelievable snow. All told, it was Vermont's 5th largest snowstorm ever -- and the biggest in March history. Happy Birthday to me! Anyway, then I went to Monday night hockey where many players seemed to have been scared off by the snow. However, although many weren't there to witness it, I scored what is known as a Birthday Hat Trick... that's right: 3 goals on one's birthday.

Moral of the story: for those who haven't turned yet, get psyched. 40 is the bomb!

New Era

Have you ever had the experience where, for example, you bring a raincoat, but it never rains?

That has been my experience after purchasing and installing (with much assistance from my neighbor Mark G, without whom I don't know how I'd survive!) an agressive set of tire chains on our plow truck. (The photo doesn't really do justice to the "teeth" on these things -- great for traction and for chopping up the solid snow and ice that can make a driveway treacherous!) With all the snow we have had this winter, it has been quite a struggle out here in backwoods Richmond! Alison and I are like homesteaders up here on our hill, digging out our woodpiles, shoveling our roof, and plowing our 800-foot-long driveway. And, although I do love all the snow (and hope for more), it had gotten the better of me; on a couple occasions I got the old plow truck stuck.

No more. I put those chains on and waited for more snow, but it never came. Until yesterday. A good 10-12 inches covered the driveway, and I was ready at 5AM today. I plowed that driveway so it's nice and wide. I pushed snow uphill and then backed the pickup into position for the next storm around the turn in the drive and to the top of the hill. Readers, be the first to know: it's a new era in snow removal in Richmond.

Backyard Ski Adventure

With the latest storm, backcountry ski season is definitely here. For today's adventure, I didn't venture far. I didn't drive and I didn't need to catch a ride. Where did I go, you wonder? I hit the ol' backyard!

Our house is situated in a nook surrounded by hills on three sides. And these hills are steep! The problem is that there is alot of fallen timber behind us, but I always figured if we got enough snow, there could be some quality turns back there.

Verdict: I was right!

Oscar and I went down the driveway and skinned our way up the "Peninsula" -- a small outcrop of a hill that juts out from the main geographic feature (and forms one side of the three surrounding the house). There was so much snow -- more, I think than in some of the higher Green Mountains (or maybe it was because I was breaking trail in this spot for the first time all season). At the ridge, we traversed a ways -- picking our way through fallen trees -- until we came to the line above our house.

The whole way, Oscar had to bound like a deer to get through the snow. And although he put more tracks in the snow than me, he made one thing clear: this dog loves the downhills! (For more on his downhill antics, click on the top photo. Yes, that's him airborne at the bottom of the pitch!) Anyway, for my part, I loved the whole adventure -- the up, the down, the views of the neighborhood, the views of our home, and especially starting and ending right here.

Photos: Left: Oscar breaking trail. Right: ski tracks.