Archive for the ‘Life in Vermont’ Category

Posted on November 8, 2005 - by deCadmus

Only in Vermont…

Only in Vermont can you gather half the bloggers in the state ’round one table in a community coffee house. Okay… maybe that’s overstating it. Call it a third. At the least, I’d think you could call it a quorum.

And quorum might be the operative word. In the state recently recognized as most likely to secede, it should come as no surprise that two of the Vermonters ’round the table happened to be former state gubernatorial candidates… and it’s a fair guess that most all present share a similar political stripe — a blue one — with more than a bit of green ’round the edges. Politics, however, was incidental at this round-table; this was a good, old fashioned meet ‘n greet session. Kudos to Seven Days‘ Cathy Resner for getting things organized. I think we all had a great time.

While we met at the Langdon Street Cafe in Montpelier, this is not a coffee house review… so I’ll refrain from any comments which might serve to indict the proprietors on any number of violations with regard to coffee preparation. Besides… this place is a neighborhood hangout first, and a coffee house second. And, you can always just order a beer, instead (which I recommend you do.)

More: vermont | coffee | blogging

Posted on October 25, 2005 - by deCadmus

A Perfect Storm?

It’s snowing.

Not the faint flurries that speak softly of the downly blankets to come… no, not these. These are big, gloppy, frozen clumps of fluffy, white stuff — crazed, drifting vollies — resolute in their intent to bring on that white winter; to make it begin.

This is not, the weather-casters assure, a repeat of the scary Hallowe’en Nor’easter that raged in 1991… (spawning a great book, and a mediochre movie) but a mere superstorm (if that).

Still and all, those tumbling flakes outside my window have a tale to tell… and they’re mad with enthusiasm to tell it.

Posted on October 15, 2005 - by deCadmus

Autumn 2005 Photos

Autumn has been a curious affair this year… the weather’s been unpredictable; the storied turning of leaves more so. I’ve been taking as many photos as I can, but it’s hit and miss. Here’s the best of the season so far, packaged in a handy Flickr slideshow.

Posted on August 14, 2005 - by deCadmus

Those Frugal Vermonters

To say that the native Vermonter is frugal is something akin to suggesting that a Scotsman has a passing interest in plaid. That is to say, it so understates the depth and breadth of the Vermonter’s frugality that it belies the essential truth, which is that Vermonters are so tight they squeak when they walk. Consider –

• Those pristine white clapboard churches that line the village green? Step around back. Chances are, the back of that church is red — painted with cheaper barn paint. Quintessentially Vermont, indeed.
• Talk around the Vermonters’ water cooler may consist of topics the likes of how to get the last bit of toothpaste from the bottom of the tube, or which gas stations in a 50-mile radius offer a nickel off their pump price every third Tuesday.
• And there may be some truth to the rumor that the boards of growing Vermont companies have to import flatlanders for the chief financial jobs… when it comes to funding big expenditures native Vermonters simply cannot bring themselves to the write the check.

The Vermonter’s tendency to pinch pennies is an ingrained trait. For decades the Green Mountain State was largely isolated and, for the most part, dirt-poor. The Vermont farmer (and most all of Vermonters were farmers — of sheep, dairy, wheat, corn and maple sugar) led a hard-scrabble life. It’s only far more recently that Vermonters have added bumper crops of leaf-peepers, hikers, mountain bikers and snow skiers to their bounty.

I note all of this only to help explain a curious phenomenon that seems to go hand in worn-leather-glove with the Vermonter’s frugality, and that is his love of a bargain. And in Vermont, bargain is spelled t-e-n-t s-a-l-e.

The tent sale is an event whereupon merchants secretly pitch palatial pavilions in dead of night, to find legions of Vermonters waiting in line at first light, stamping their feet in the pre-dawn cold, and craning their necks for a better view at the potential bargains within.

Nobody knows just how Vermonters learn that a tent sale is to take place… they just know. Nor does it particularly matter whether the goods inside the tent are, indeed, bargain-priced. The logic goes: it’s in a tent, therefore it must be a good deal.

This has led to a thriving business in tents in the state. And, in fact, you will find architectural marvels akin to the spinnaker sails of the Sydney opera house or the onion domes of the Taj Mahal, albeit rendered in canvas and steel and capable of being both raised and razed in 30 minutes flat.

So, a wise word to the traveler. If you intend to visit Vermont this autumn, and should you choose to camp in the arboreal splendor of our mountains and valleys, have a care. Firstly, consider sleeping in the open air… the stars are lovely. But if you absolutely must raise a tent of your own, think small — think very small — lest you find a herd of restive Vermonters at dawn’s door, looking for a deal.

Posted on July 5, 2005 - by deCadmus

Independence Day

Scenes from a village parade…
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Posted on June 6, 2005 - by deCadmus

Early Sunday Morning…

The view out our back door Sunday morning… early Sunday morning. If you happened to be riding in one of these and spied a woman scrambling outside while in her bathrobe and waving a camera, that’d be herself. She’s a keeper. ;)

Posted on June 5, 2005 - by deCadmus

A Visit to the Shelburne Museum

Visitors to the Shelburne Museum are greeted by (and routed through) this very impressive round barn… one of maybe two dozen remaining in the state of Vermont. Like most of the buildings on the museum grounds, it was moved here (the upper part of the silo was helicoptered in!)
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Posted on May 31, 2005 - by deCadmus

Clouds

Clouds. Blue sky… and lovely clouds.

Posted on May 31, 2005 - by deCadmus

Pop-ups

Fun pop-up clouds today. Well… fun if you’re a weatherbug. And I am. I’m still trying to figure out how cloud systems and weather work in Vermont, as it’s sooo different from the weather in Kansas….

Posted on May 30, 2005 - by deCadmus

Memorial Day Lawn & Garden Report

Welcome to the Memorial Day Lawn and Garden Report. This is an azalea. Or maybe it’s a rhododendron. Herself says there’s hundreds of varieties of each… I just say, purty.
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