Vermont, well it's more rural than even I expected, and seems to be a state that got stuck in 1950 and perhaps even further back. I live in Brookfield which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the state situated on a mountain. You could easily pass through the town and never really realized that you were in one. Farms mostly and all scattered in the hinter lands around these tiny hamlets that go for towns...at least to the locals. Think Norman Rockwell with 18th century shops lined up on a single main street punctuated by a tall steepled church and if you're lucky a 18th century library. Every town has a town hall, New England style - rectangular and white with a bell tower. There are a few 20th century interloping companies popping up, but they're still cloaked in 18th century adornments - small shops, antique lamps, and 200 year old bricks. The bank I use is located in Bethel, and when you walk in it's like stepping into a wild west movie set. Original iron bars at the counter, ornate ionic interior artecture, and smell of an antique shop. I'm a little surprised the teller doesn't have one of those little bow ties and a waxed mustache. That's what I mean by having modern commercialization blending in with the Vermont time machine.
The people are quiet and a bit stand offish at first. Their humor escapes me as I find them laughing when I'm left wondering what was funny and vice versa. Their accents vary considerably as many are from Boston, Philadelphia, NY, and Maine. My boss at work is from Maine and has a squeally fast talking jibe that took a little at first to get use to. She's also a open and proud lesbian. Married in fact to one of the supervisors and they have a kid. VT is very liberal and open minded about marriage, god, and the gay community. I'm not bothered by it in the least as I grew up in the French Quarter of New Orleans - gay central. Those from Boston seem to be the most bothered by it, and also the most outspoken about politics in general. Very racists too, and not the kind of racism you find in the South. The South has pretty much gone underground with their racist feelings, keeping it between themselves and in their private worlds. Some of the people I've met from Boston have no problem using the vernacular and hate spittled colloquialisms in the South's hay day. Very Republican, very conservative, and very opinionated.
Vermont strongly supports their troops, and it seems they are firm believers that we're over "there" to protect our freedoms over here. They're not conspiratorialist by nature, but many despise government in general. They vent these feelings at their town halls, and they're not shy about it too.
There is a strong organic hippie movement here. You'll find organic whole food shops in pretty much every town - raw milk, fresh eggs, and cheese is readily available to anyone. You can't be afraid to ask though. I pass up cows, chickens, goats, and horses on the way to work everyday. I might care to mention to that the roads are pretty much without traffic, and about the only time where you might find yourself slowed is if they're working on the streets or power lines. There are few to any cops, and about the only time you have to obey the speed limit is in the towns. They'll get you for speeding in their school zones, they're very protective of the old and young, but outside that you're on your own. The local youth drive too damn fast if you ask me and I regularly find their stupid asses off the road and into a ditch. Most towns specifically require their cops to stay within the township and NOT to patrol the rural roads outside of that. So there is a certain wildness to where I'm at.
My neighbors are splendid people who probably out of necessity are eager to help if asked. I have a large farm next to me with horses and cows. Their freezer is full of turkeys and chickens from the Fall slaughter. He comes to plow my driveway if the snow gets above 4". That's what is worked out by the landlord. He's told me though that if I need help with something he would be happy to come help, and I told him likewise.
The home I rented here is situated up on a hill next to my neighbor and we're both close to 2000' in elevation, so we get quite a bit of snow compared to the valley's. The closest town to me is Randolph - can't really call Brookfield a town, doesn't have anything but a church and a library - and I'm 20 min's via long winding mountainous road. A road that turns to mud at the first signs of any thaw. A big thaw recently as the temps got up to 50 degrees and with the recent snow base, hmm maybe 12" there's been lots of mud making going on. A real challenge for my low to the ground Toyota matrix. One of the first things I did when I got up here is go and purchase some good snow tires, studded no less, and took care of the brakes. The pads were just about gone on the front rotors. My small pickup truck is parked for the winter, being a rear wheel drive and no snow tires. It does have much better clearance though. I just hate driving non-4x4 trucks in the snow and mud. The house is 200 years old, one of the first homes built in Brookfield, and the original owner built the famous floating bridge - a antiquated historical structure that spans Brookfields pond. Old wooden blanks tied to giant barrels. The poor old thing has been rebuilt numerous times and is currently closed for repairs again. The township was able to procure some federal funds to fix it, so I should be able to get some great photo's of me driving across it one day. If we don't run out of fuel before then. I wish I were kidding.
The house was a bad pick for me though, since the landlord doesn't use a wood stove and won't allow one either. It's very leaky to the elements and uses a heating oil blown furnace. A wasteful monster located down in the stone basement. When it gets below twenty degree's it kicks on just about every 15 min's and I keep the thermostat set to 65. Any lower and my wife might leave me. Even at this temp we pretty much dress up when relaxing in the house, and have two thick down comforters to sleep under at night. I've done what I could to insulate the house and make things cheaper for me, all based off the advice given to me by the locals, and it includes sealing all the windows with plastic, caulking the trim, and sealing off unusued doors with blankets. I've also sealed off the upstairs so it'll only heat the one floor. Nothing's air tight here and most of the hot air escapes the ceiling joists and warms the upstairs nonetheless. There are 200 year old rough cut beams spanning the ceiling, and are quite lovely to look at, admiring the workmanship and sweat it took to hand cut and whittle them into 40' square timbers. We have a bare earth basement with original stone walls, and would make for a great root cellar, for which I'm sure was once used as. The house is located on 9 hilly acres that descend towards a big lake or pond. I've taken the trail down to it many times, and it's now frozen over. Pretty soon I'll try my luck at ice fishing, something I've never done. Gonna have to be careful though, I'm a big fella and I'm have no inclination to join the power bear club. Think I'll be taking a rope and and ice pick with me.
Dear Meg,
ReplyDeleteAs a nearly lifelong Vermonter I find your observations and experiences very interesting. I hope you continue to comment on your new life in this part of the world.
You say you feel like you dropped into the 1950s. I say, not even close, way different now. The happiest days of my childhood were summers spent on my Grampa's little Vermont hill farm. Things were slower, smaller, more laid back in a hard working kind of way, and more isolated from the rest of the world. No interstate highways, no strip malls, no hippies, no Democrats to speak of, a lot more farms, some farms were just in the process of getting hooked up to the power grid, party line phones. Some people still worked their fields and woodlots with horses, my Gramp for example although tractors, mostly fords and JD, were becoming more common. Mud season was always bad and there were fewer paved roads. I loved it.
You are correct in noting that today even with us Democrats and hippies running things much of the old time attitude remains. The steps forward have been both good and bad. We are much more tied to the fate of the nation and the world. There is a greater diversity in the population although the percentage of Asians, blacks, Hispanics, etc remains tiny. We consistently rank at or near the top in the country in education, health care, environmental values, and historic preservation.
In my small city of 8,000 we have three colleges, five book stores and an excellent public library. Every thing in town is within walking distance, excepts for Wal-Mart which is a drive up the hill.
Even though it could take ten years or more for people to stop thinking of you as a flatlander I'm sure you will find warm welcomes. I imagine your accent is quite a treat to listen to and an experienced med tech is a valuable asset in a community.
I hope you continue to write about your Vermont odyssey. I like it a lot better than your doomer porn.
What a great post, Mega! Love seeing your impressions of this state, after living in Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteFloating bridge is *still* out?