Getting out

Happy Spring.

Happy Easter as well. It was a wonderful wekend in Vermont. We enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures, bright sunshine, and no lack of things to do.

I even took the old Willys out for a ride yesterday. It was nice to not freeze in the doorless Jeep. It also was nice to see that the roads are drying up a bit. The thing I liked the best was seeing the people outside once again after the long winter.

As I drove first on a test run, then over to my friend's house, I was heartened to see people stop and wave as I drove by. Sure, that is part of the fun of owning a Beryl Green antique auto, but a lot of that sentiment comes with  the season, here in Vermont.

There were people taking in the last maple buckets  after the spring sap run. They waved as I drove by.
A little down the road, visible only because the trees had not filled in yet, were a couple of guys building a bridge across a creek. They looked up from their work as well. The lady raking her yard did too.

I don't think that it was me, necessarily, that garnered the attention. I think that it is a factor of where we live.

Vermont is a strange sort of place. There are not many of us living here. The entire state, for instance has about the same population as an average sized American city. The difference here is that we are all spread out. There are usually a number of freeways and main artery surface roads that link people together in cities. In Vermont, we all share just one highway. Two if you count the one we share with New Hampshire. Three if you count the seven or so miles of four lane road that Route 7 builds to south of Rutland before dwindling back to two.

So what does it mean? It means that most of us live a little further from eachother than the rest of the world does. It is almost an uncommon thing to see someone driving by our houses. There is really a good chance that if we see people walking on our road, we know their names or at least have a good idea where they live. We can spot Jehovah's Witnesses a mile away.

It is actually a nice feeling. it gives our spread-out populace a small town feel. Those guys were not just looking up from their work as my bright green Jeep drove by. I think that they were curious who was using their road. Aside from neighbors, there might not be a dozen cars down it on a sunny afternoon. I think they genuinely wanted to see who might come a visiting; who might be by to lend them a hand finishing that bridge before the black flies come out. 

The warmer weather certainly brought Vermonters outside this past weekend. Driving home in time for the kids baths and bed on a school night, families could be seen in dooryards, and on front porches together. Campfires were lit against the cold; warming bare arms and legs bleached white over the winter.Vermonters were brought together by Easter traditions, but also by the season. Spring brings us outside. Spring brings us together with our neighbors and family.

As the weather warms, Vermont kicks off her winter blanket of white. The state sends up shoots from the ground and buds from the trees. Each of them call its residents to congregate outdoors. After the long winter, we can really use it.