Place Setting redux

So here’s another place setting – one that won’t cause tiffs between us! 

I am sitting at the desk looking out over South Street. The cars are passing with parents who have dropped their kids off at school. The bird feeder perch is slanted down, blocking access to the sunflower seed. It is set at the lightest point so that the squirrels and chipmunks don’t take up residence and leave the birds hungry, but at this setting no one gets to eat. That will be my first morning chore after the wood stove warms the place up a bit. I saw some motion a few minutes ago and it was the first blue jay I have seen this year . Last week I saw the first robin, and the chickadees have already turned brilliant yellow. Herb saw a red-winged blackbird when we were driving into town.

It rained last night, and we were back to mud season for a few hours though it seems dry now. There are a lot of wind-blown branches to clear up and everyone is talking about the late Spring and frustrated that they haven’t been able to get into their gardens to till and plant the cold crops. There are however, buds on the lilac that holds the bird feeder.

Vermont is a beautiful place, but as I suppose with many beautiful places, it has its harder edges. This is not one of my favorite times of year as the green hasn’t really come out yet, and we don’t have the white blanket to cover the bald patches in the dirt. The same is true of the wedding venue. The reception is on the green (well, beside it) between the quintessential Vermont church and the building that houses the Historical Society, aka the Community House to those who grew up here (and of course there is an accompanying story or two). But on the other side of the green is Norm’s empty parking area where the garage burned down a few years ago. We are asking you not to look at the parking area, but to focus on the green. We are asking you to travel to one of our favorite spots on Emmett and Kerstin’s lawn. If the weather cooperates, the view is stunning, but the trip up is through an actively trashed landscape. There is a once beautiful enormous barn, now collapsing, dozens of junked cars and trucks and a primordial mobile home with the insulation blowing in the wind.

I admit I wish that the wedding were in a venue with less to turn away from, but there is much to turn toward. We were greeted as we drove up this weekend, by Emmett in his red truck, the plow blade now gone at last, and a pair of chocolate fudge brownies. And that was before we had even unpacked the car. There are people here who plow unasked for their neighbors or those who are on hard times. My first Christmas, when I worried about the pipes freezing, the brother of the man who worked the dump and now mows my lawn, told me not to worry. Though everyone’s wood stock was already committed, if I needed wood, they’d be there, and sure enough Glen showed up with a load of wood on Christmas eve. And I was a stranger then.

Herb and I are here for both the mud season and the sweet green of summer. We look forward to having you share this town with us, and having friends meet friends.