Kate George’s World of Vermont

Some places are very much the same year-round, but not rural Vermont. I moved here in the summer, nearly twenty years ago now, and it was green and lush. It reminded me of a rainforest, it was that full of vegetation.  Houses were hidden behind walls of trees and bushes. I had no idea what the landscape was really like. Although I might get a glimpse of a river or a mountain, the roads ran through tunnels of trees and fierce undergrowth, the sunlight filtered through a million leaves.

Until we hit foliage season. My Aunt once asked me if it was as pretty as all the calendar pictures she had seen. It is so much more than that. Every autumn is different. Some years the reds are dominant, some the yellows or the oranges. It can seem to go on for weeks or be over before it’s started. Those pictures you’ve seen? Where I live every turn in the road, every crest of a hill affords another opportunity for overwhelming

beauty.

And then it freezes. Now everything is grey. The stands of trees that hid the vistas from the road are barren. The undergrowth that filled every gap with greenery disappears. Vermont in November can be stark and unwelcoming, the corn fields cut to stubble and every contour visible, the river a cold steel ribbon cutting through the valley.

But now it snows and the world is transformed. The first snow is magic. It softens the sharp edges and hides the grey stubble of fallow fields. The trees are dressed in layers of white, hanging low over a road that reminds me that sleighs once traveled here. You can see forever from the top of the hill, and the sun reflecting off the brilliant sparkling landscape is breathtaking. The air burns skin and lungs, but being outside is worth it. We go sliding – what you might call sledding – and skating on the now solid lakes and ponds, or on the ice rink the town erects on the green. We ski and snowshoe. The winter goes on forever.

We call the thaw “mud season.” That’s because many of us live and travel on unpaved dirt roads. Yes, Vermont has as many, if not more, unpaved roads than paved. On a good year, mud season will last only a few weeks and the roads will remain passable. Bad years can find your vehicle stuck to the axle in the mud hole that used to be a road. We learn to be flexible.

Spring is almost non-existent. We see a few crocuses, then the daffodils and the snow that has persisted in the shady spots finally disappears and then we are back in full summer. The vistas hidden behind walls of greenery once again.

Come to Vermont any time of year. She will always surprise you. Visit Silver Lake in Barnard, or Quechee Gorge in Quechee. Ski on one of the many mountains. But here’s what I suggest. Instead of going to the easy places – the biggest or most famous mountain slopes, the café that is right off the interstate – find the places the locals go. Ski Suicide Six for a day. Find the café in town where the locals go – like Chelsea Station in South Royalton Vermont. You’ll meet the locals, hear the old timers speak vernacular Vermontese and learn about the places and events that are dear to Vermonters. You will discover the heart of Vermont and it is well worth knowing.

Kate George is the author of the Bree MacGowan Mystery Series, originating in the heart of Vermont. She can be found at kategeorge.com  and her books can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Kate-George/e/B002KQHSYI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1440947946&sr=8-1.

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