Last Friday I headed down to the ArtsRiot Truck Stop with a couple of friends for my inaugural “Seconds of Summer” blog post — how exciting! However, we were reminded of Vermont’s proximity to the Arctic Circle as a cold front blustered into my food-truck fairy tale and threatened to put a damper on things.

Nonetheless, turning the corner to the parking lot behind ArtsRiot, we couldn’t help but smile at the scene: a profusion of blue smoke hung in the air and intermingled with a standing crowd much larger than we had expected. Finding everyone back there, it almost felt like a surprise party or a pop-up barbecue or a secret, truck-stop soirée.