wicked weeble wobbles, chowda, and moose. or lack thereof.

one of the best parts about going to a completely new place is the chance to make observations and notice things from an outsider's point of view.. the observations can be random and unfounded, sure, but hell... i've got nothing to follow that statement, actually.

so, some random things i've been noticing...

-new england loves Dunkin' Donuts. I've never seen so many Dunkin' Donuts in all my life... I was told that it is the biggest coffee distributor in the world, which I couldn't imagine, because I had only ever seen a few in my whole life... but now it makes sense. This place feeds the beast. This is also ironic to me, because Vermont was named the healthiest state in 2008. Doughnut anomaly.

-cops love using big snow banks to their full advantage.

-cops also love targeting young girls with ohio license plates. I actually had a police officer ask me, 'why the hell are you this far from home at this time of year, young lady?' uhh...

-I think the moose have all run away. I see moose crossing signs everywhere, and yet, no moose. And I think this is really a shame.

- there is a mentality of fitness among young people that is really widespread... I regularly see 12 and 13 year olds that could whoop me, and high school students that look like semi-pro athletes.

-Being organic and green and local is all the rage. More than anywhere in this country that I've been to. Which is awesome.

-The snow here doesn't melt. It just builds. and builds. and builds.

-Not knowing how to ski is like not knowing how to walk.

-I was offered chowda, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.... chowda exists, even in vermont.

-Whoever designed the highway system here, loves unreasonably short merge lanes.

-"Wicked" is to New England, as "Hella" is to Northern California. The first time I heard it here, it was when a 5 year old told me about this "wicked cool" weeble wobble playset she has.

orange to blue.

This time of day. My heart smiles like a bell and embraces this prize.
This time when the sun starts to touch the horizon in its heavy descent.
It lasts maybe 15 minutes. Maybe 10.
The last deep breath of orange before the dive.
The glow that goes beyond seen surface and resonates from within.
Twenty shades of glowing light.
The exhale of today.
It’s like the sun making love to the earth.
And I wish I didn’t have to feel it alone.

And today, yesterday, tomorrow,
through dirty windows stained by salty winter roads,
I watch the orange turn into blue.










"Oh, what mighty wind did bend your little limbs?"

low-lying clouds and the beautiful impermanence of twilight.

I’ve never, in all my life, felt as quiet as I do now. Maybe this is how traveling hushes your heart, or solitude quiets your words… I’ve always felt like I listen in between communicating in some outward way, but now it seems reversed, like I communicate in small bits in between large stretches of listening. It’s like the universe has quieted me deeply, and this is simply my time to listen, to everything, in every way. It’s almost been a challenge to communicate in any outward way, verbally, visually… Like my thoughts are grounded so deeply in my heart and mind, I can’t even get them out. Sometimes I feel like I’m swallowed in a low-lying cloud.

I wonder if, when my time here is over, I’ll really have something to say, in a way I didn’t know how to before.

Some of the most blissful and alive moments I’ve had in my time here, have been when I allow myself to get lost on twisting rural roads. They always take me exactly where I need to be, and see exactly what I need to see, be it a herd of deer at twilight, a farm with old red buildings up on a hill, a dog running along side me, horses with their winter shag poking their heads out of the fences, a tree with twisting, knotted fingers… Sometimes I will just drive and drive, always winding further into the beautiful unknown, and suddenly I will find myself in a clearing on top of a mountain, with the beautiful snow covered Green Mountain’s peaks in view and not a trace of humans in sight. I am working the morning shift this month, so I’m done with the workday at 5. This translates to me driving toward home when the workday is done, but before tiredly finding my way home, I find a new dirt road to get lost on. I drive and watch twilight descend and bleed into nighttime… and I think this is when I feel the most alive… Twilight has a way of reminding me of the painful, bittersweet beauty of impermanence. It reminds me of the natural flow of all things and of my own impermanence… my own twilight. I always hear this voice in my heart cry out to the twilight, ‘Stay. Just a little longer. Stay this moment. Stay this milky blue. Stay this day. Stay.’ But it won’t. And that is beautiful.

swim.

for the v news. new england swim championships for kids 12 and under.


color! @#$(*@&#$ eegads.

valley winter.

photos for the paper. people playing in the snow.

friendly faces in the valley.

some of the friendly faces i've had the joy of meeting, day to day in the Upper Valley.

Many days late... Many dollars short.

Well, I'm exactly a month late but in the spirit of America, here are some photographs from inauguration night- I covered a local party for the v-news.


And a couple of weeks later I covered the news breaking of Dartmouth College laying off 60 employees.

Hello, New England.

Half way through my stay here. It's been a trip getting to know this new place.. I've never been to any state in New England before, so my eyes have felt wide open. I'm still trying to decide if coming to stay in Vermont in the heart of winter was the best idea or not... but I find myself just taking it all for what it is. Even in the bitter cold, there is so much beauty here, I am constantly in awe.

here are a couple of the very first photographs i took, from my first day wandering around here. It's always so interesting to me to look back at the first photographs you take after going to a new environment, after you've started to feel like you're getting used to it... Remembering what it looked like with the very freshest of eyes, the little things that you noticed first..







the view from my windows and the house i'm living in: