Walkabout #21: Saxtons River, Vermont

    I’ve made a friend here and she plays with the Windham Orchestra. They had a show in Saxtons River and I went to listen.

    The town itself is an intense visual treat and I’ve picked out a few of the better bits for your viewing pleasure.

 This old RV isn’t just abandoned here; look closely and you’ll see that this site, right along the main road into Saxtons River, was once someone’s full time dwelling, complete with water and power.

  A bit close to town you find a one lane peg construction covered bridge that leads to a handful of houses on the far side of the river. My camera battery is about shot so I apologize for the less than stellar coverage – I ran out of juice after just a handful of photos.

The town of Saxtons River lost a large employer when this mill went under. I do believe this was a sawmill of the type that did finish work, producing planed boards, shiplap, and the like. I would have liked to explore further but my ankle was still being quite the bother and there were enough "no trespassing" signs to make me think twice and slipping over the fence for a look inside.

  The show itself was on the campus of the Vermont Academy, a small residential high school founded in 1876. I hiked to the top of the school’s ski jump to catch a shot of the main campus and then got one decent shot of the Windham Orchestra in operation.

  I must say that I’m quite taken with Vermont – lots to see, lots to do, and the people have been just fascinating.

•  jar of tipping

  Vermont used to be a stand alone republic and they're constantly trying to secede, or failing that, to kick the other 49 states out of the union. After two days there I can see why ... and I think I agree with them :-)

  by Stranded Wind on Sun May 11, 2008 at 06:55:46 AM PDT

  •  Why we moved here...

    The Vermont attitude that treats federal (or any outside) regulations with suspicion is one of the reasons we moved here!

    Before moving, I vacationed in the state and visited a local library. On the front desk was a sign stating that "The FBI has NOT been here. This sign will disappear if your loan or internet records have been accessed." This was their way of preserving the liberties of their clients without technically breaking the law that they couldn't say that the FBI HAD been there.

    The library also did not receive federal funds because it refused to put internet filters on the library computers. They had a wonderful display that showed the websites that DID get blocked by the filters and ones that DIDN'T. On the DID list were several news agencies, the Vatican and La Leche League. The library also had a sign near the computers that stated quite frankly that there were no filters and that parents were responsible for supervising their children at all times.

    Vermont isn't perfect, but I every day I find another reason that I'm glad we moved here!

    by mamamorgaine on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:25:09 AM PDT

  •  Thanks for this take on Vermont

    And I like how you used even the few visual images to paint a scene that evokes our politics.
     Vermont is truly unique - though a New Englander all my life, i moved here 18 years ago on a lark, and was quickly struck by how much more "New Englandy" is Vermont than central Mass., where I grew up.
     The stark contrast of the brutal rural poverty evidenced in that motor home (there's a lot of that here) and the Currier&Ives town square is commonplace; as is the coexistence of a Socialist Senator and Republican governor, or rusty pickup trucks parked in front of a classical music concert venue. Civil Unions and "clinging to guns" are both widely accepted... and on and on.
    It's no surprise we went for Obama in a landslide; his are the politics that speak to the independent thinking people here.

    And responding to a comment downthread - Dean was never considered a wild-eyed liberal in VT. The doctor was viewed as a moderate, pro-business dem. All of his reputation came from the national media blacklisting him in '04.

    by kamarvt on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:31:08 AM PDT

•  take it from someone

  whose bones ache in a mild GA winter, that kind of pretty only lasts a few months, then they make you pay for it most of the year.  That's why Vermont wants out of the Union, they resent people who can go outside without suffering frostbite for more than 2 1/2 months a year.  /snark

  by jfromga on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:13:51 AM PDT

•  My Time In VT Has Been Just Wonderful

  and you are right, they are close to a nation within itself. It is a long, long story, but my connection to the state was through an amazing friend I made in grad school (LSU mind you, two Yankees) in the early 90s.

  His mother was a longtime state Senator. When Dean made his run I asked him what his mother thought.

  He told me she couldn't stand the man. Hated him. I asked way. "He isn't liberal enough."  

  by webranding on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:16:38 AM PDT

•  We're planning on retiring in Burlington...

  I can't wait.  I'll take the cold & snow & stuff just to live in such a beautiful state (with Ben & Jerry!).

  by madame defarge on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:22:45 AM PDT

  •  So beautiful

    that I can't imagine anyone indulging in "road rage" while driving in the state! When there is a wonderful vista around every corner or over every hill (and we've got LOTS of corners and hills!), then it's impossible to sustain annoyance at trivial driver idiocies.

    Besides, it's quite the common thing on our roads that a slower driver will pull over so any build-up of cars behind them can pass. (Very few places that it is safe to pass on most of our "major" roads.)

    by mamamorgaine on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:29:54 AM PDT

    •  you HAVE been here through leaf-peeping season?

      Hate to admit it, but the peepers will get me a wee bit road raged.
      Mostly when they drive 25 in a 50 mph zone and I'm commuting to work, but my favorite was coming around a corner on rt 4, (a "major artery" in VT scale), and slammed on my brakes to avoid rear-ending the Cadillac parked on the center line, with the driver perched on the roof to snap a photo of a covered bridge.
      It's so crazy beautiful around here that people sometimes forget it's not an exhibit, but our actual home.

      by kamarvt on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:36:19 AM PDT

      •  Oh, surely

        We've been here for four years, now. I must admit that the leaf-peepers can be annoying, but our family gets into the habit of looking at the license plate. If it's not Vermont then we just shake our heads and say "flatlander".

        The thing that actually annoys me the most is how someone with a perfectly adequate IQ level is reduced to a total idiot when they get behind the steering wheel of a Subaru. We have a little game that anytime someone ahead of us is driving way too slow, or erratically, then we look for the make of the car...98% of the time it's a Subaru!

        Sorry to hear about your adventures on Rt 4....I've heard similiar encounters from folks up here in the Northeast Kingdom! Our beautiful views mesmerize the flatlanders too well!

        by mamamorgaine on Sun May 11, 2008 at 10:10:16 AM PDT

•  I was born and raised in Vermont

  in a small city called St. Albans, about half an hour north of Burlington. When I was young and irresponsible, instead of doing drugs or sleeping around like everybody else my age, I moved to Texas.

  I've been sorry for it ever since.

  by elmo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:33:20 AM PDT

  •  Hey Now*

    I've spend a lot of time in Texas. There are some great places, you just need to find them. One I would strongly suggest is San Marcos. Folks tube down the river to class. Landscape that appears to be pulled out of the Lone Ranger TV series.

    *I should note I lived in Lubbock. If there is hell on earth it might be close to there.

    by webranding on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:38:33 AM PDT

    •  I worked in Clovis, NM

      I worked in Clovis, just across the line on llana estacado. Pancake flat, howling wind nonstop ... can't see why anyone ever settled it but crazy people ... farmers are like that :-)

      by Stranded Wind on Sun May 11, 2008 at 07:58:52 AM PDT

      •  we drive up through the panhandle to Colorado

        every summer, stopping off in Clayton. There's a huge cattle feedlot outside of town, and when the wind is just right (wrong) that's all you smell in town. Gah!

        by elmo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 08:39:11 AM PDT

    •  Oh, yes

      we went tubing down the Guadalupe once with our two Boston terriers.

      Have you ever been to Vermont?

      by elmo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 08:37:59 AM PDT

•  wow, someone scavenged the aluminum siding

  off that motorhome...gotta be some mighty needy people out there somewhere...

  by greatwhitebuffalo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 08:49:32 PM PDT

  •  Or thrifty. Probably using it again -

    though maybe they joined the copper robbers in midnight requisitioning metal.

    by Creosote on Mon May 12, 2008 at 01:53:47 AM PDT

    •  A bit of both

      Since most of the state is remarkably rural, it's a nuisance to get to stores, so using what you can find close to hand (perhaps in novel ways) is common, but there's also crushing poverty living side-by-side with all other income levels. The lack of suburbanization has made the state much more egalitarian. We don't have the subdivisions of the wealthy and the ghettos of the poor, we have trailer homes and big, beautiful custom homes on the same street.

      The saddest thing is that much of the worst poverty is among the old-time farmers. Due to the way the commodities markets are structured, they get very little of the money from our food purchases. They've worked hard all their lives and now face destitution due to the agribusiness model of production and distribution.

      by mataliandy on Mon May 12, 2008 at 11:25:39 AM PDT

      •  Somehow I hope that situation with farmers

        can be turned around.

        So much restructuring is needed, lines of communication found and used, and
        so much rethinking. You're in the forefront of what has to happen next.

        A lot of this was in the air when I lived in NYC, 1968-1970 or so (see Raymond Mungo's Total Loss Farm, and Wendell Berry's early writing, especially about farming and horses).

        It was possible then to try out the country, then opt back in - different times now.

        by Creosote on Tue May 13, 2008 at 02:51:16 AM PDT

•  I love Vermont--I mean really, not just a slogan.

  It's New England, but the people are warmer than in any other New England state I know.  I grew up in Georgia, and I appreciate the realistic, no-nonsense approach to things.  If there is occasion to gather, such as a concert by a South African choir, there is no standardized blather by way of introduction, there is no required lip service to any kind of god--country, state, or city.  If something is said, it is done so in appropriate and honest homage to reality.  I love that about Vermont.

  People are decent neighbors, but they keep out of your business.  If you like, you can be anonymous in Vermont.  If you prefer, you can be sociable.

  Women wear their boots and overalls into town, even to dinner, and nobody even notices.  Men, too, of course.  More than once, I have driven from Vermont to Boston, only to suddenly feel shabbily and dirtily dressed as soon as I entered a public place in the city.  Only then would I be reminded of the dramatic difference in importance in how one appears on the outside.

  In Vermont people can discuss the temperature and wood stoves for an entire evening.

  People in GA used to hate the federal government, too, but it was a knee jerk hatred based on blame.  People in Vermont hate the federal government based on an informed awareness that it is failing us.

  Vermont is the most beautiful state east of the Mississippi.

  Our Vermont city--about 35,000 people, has 4 independent book stores.  Our town refused to turn its back on our downtown hardware store when Home Depot came in.  I just learned that Home Depot is closing their store.

  Tiny Saxtons River is home to one of the most dynamic and moving choirs I have ever been part of--the River Singers and the subgroup, Emerald Stream.  Their winter concert sends the spirit soaring.  They donate proceeds to various charities and form bonds with choirs from troubled parts of the world, learning their music and bringing it to tiny Saxtons River.

  I could go on and on.  Thanks for the excuse to think about how great Vermont is.

  by geomoo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 09:31:18 PM PDT

  •  And one other thing--people still barter in VT

    Somehow, money takes on a different value here.  Low income people find ways to live in beautiful settings in beautiful homes.  But that is getting tougher as real estate prices have been climbing.

    by geomoo on Sun May 11, 2008 at 09:33:32 PM PDT

  •  The no-Home Depot story gave me joy.....

    by la urracca on Sun May 11, 2008 at 11:03:03 PM PDT

•  New Connecticut

  The state is beautiful but it's been ruined by yuppies from Connecticut.  I grew up in Vermont.  I spent a lot of my childhood in Saxtons River.  

  Vermonters are the worst drivers.  You see them in New Hampshire driving 90 mph to get back home to their precious state.

  Vermonters literally think they own the road.  In Putney VT they tried to force legitimate business vehicles from the roads in their town, even those which belong to the state and the federal government.  Needless to say they were shot down.

  by frantaylor on Mon May 12, 2008 at 07:00:33 AM PDT

  •  I think the ones you see sppeding in NH

    Are probably Boston or NYC transplants. Not that I know any of those....

    by mataliandy on Mon May 12, 2008 at 11:30:18 AM PDT