photo © 2004 Ken Traub | more info (via: Wylio)A TRIP THROUGH VERMONT
With Love's Raid, I bid a fond adieu to the town of Maple Notch and the state of Vermont. I have dealt with these hardy New Englanders for almost ninety years of their time and not quite two years of my time.
I started out with my limited knowledge of Vermont: maple sugar candy (best stuff on earth!), covered bridges, northern New England, Green Mountains, Ethan Allan and the Green Mountain Boys. As a native New Englander, I understood something of the hearty nature of the early pioneers. To that I added a survey of Vermont's history and read several fantastic folk stories: Ann Story lived in a cave and farmed her land while her husband was away fighting the Revolutionary War (see Prodigal Patriot). Nathaniel Foster managed to grow a crop during 1816, the infamous Year of No Summer (when frost or snow killed crops every month of the year) by burning his tree stumps. His distribution of seed corn earned his community the name of "Egypt" (see Bridge to Love).
Another factor I hadn't considered initially was Vermont's proximity to New York. The Green Mountain Boys fought at the battle at Fort Ticonderoga in New York, a major part of the story in Prodigal Patriot. In Love's Raid, the heroine Clara Farley makes a pilgrimage to Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of the women's movement, while still in school.
Thanks to the readers of Heartsong Presents for coming along with me on the trip into Vermont's storied past. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Have anyone ever visited Vermont?
I love Vermont in the fall (as in the photo above), especially if there's a thin white church spire in the picture! I've only been to Vermont a couple times in my life. One time our family stopped in northern Vermont, near the Canadian border, at an ice cream shop. Some of the Vermont natives were speaking French! That made a real impression on me.
ReplyDeleteDonna
It is a gorgeous picture, isn't it? There are a lot of French-speakers in northern New England, who have come over the border from Quebec. When I studied Spanish in hhigh school, I was going against the trend to speak French as a second language.
ReplyDeleteHey Darlene, we visited Vermont (a place I'd longed to see my whole life) a few years ago on a leaf-peeper trip. Awesome is the only word. I so loved the boat trip on Lake Champlaign, the Shelburn museum, the maple trees changing color. Driving through the Green Mtns on the way to New Hampshire...the white church spires, the glowing leaves. Awe, such glory.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful memory, Tanya
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Vermont but have always wanted to go. I confess, the only image I can conjure (?) up is from that Bob Newhart show. He and his wife had an inn or something.
ReplyDeleteIs that where the famous Christmas movie was also set?
I'm not much help with describing Vermont, but it does stick in my mind, assuming these settings I remember are of Vermont.
I'd love to win your latest book, Darlene.
cathy underscore shouse at yahoo
Yes, Bob Newhart had a show set in Vermont. I don't know about a movie. I believe the real Von Trapp family lived in Vermont after they escaped Austria.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that picture of the autumn leaves, Darlene! Vermont is on my "Wish List" of places to visit. ~ I think the movie Cathy was referring to must be WHITE CHRISTMAS - - which happens to be my favorite movie of all time! (a true classic--it's very old, LOL). ~ Thanks for sharing, Patti Jo :)
ReplyDeleteOh, White Christmas, of course! You ladies will have to read Christmas at Barncastle Inn, a contemporary Christmas collection, coming out this fall. It's about a B&B that's a bit like Fantasy Island--name the time period that you want to celebrate Christmas in, and they'll accomodate you. One of the four stories has a WWII, take off on White Christmas for its setting. :)
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