A (Not So) Lazy Sunday
What a Day
A River Runs Through it…Okay, a CREEK Runs Through it.
After a few days of temperatures in the single digits—and down to sub-zero temps at night (yikes!)—today was a balmy 34 degrees. This meant that it was the perfect day for a long hike through Sabin’s Pasture, the nature area behind VCFA.
The “Cloud-guy” at work.
I was under the impression that the pasture would be next to impossible to navigate with snow on the ground. I have come to the conclusion that I was very much mistaken. It is, in fact, easier to navigate in winter than it is in the fall. The waist high brush that obscured the paths then, lies fallow at this time of year. As a result, you can see where you’re going. You can make for spots in the distance instead of following meandering paths and hoping that you’ll get where you want to go. The views are unobscured, as well. You can see off into the distance, where “the cloud guy” (as my friend in the West calls the hand of nature in the skies) has been hard at work. It really is quite painterly and gorgeous.
Fellow Walkers, Strollers and Hikers
Parnell
There are children, adults, and other dogs on the path on this cloudy Sunday. We’re all out to get some fresh air before the work and school week starts. You can take a walk in this town on almost any day of the week and come across dogs: small dogs, big dogs, white dogs, black dogs and red dogs like my own. Happy dogs, and happy owners. Last summer, as I was preparing to make the cross-country move from the West Coast to the East, I did several Google searches for dog parks in and around Montpelier. I found none, which made me worry. My dog, Parnell, is an emotional service animal and I need him to function. But HE needs a place to run wild and commune with other doggos.
Doggos in the Meadow
What ever were we going to do?
But then we got to Montpelier and found that the whole place is a dog park! (especially around the college, where there are lots of green spaces) So, prospective students, if you have to leave the family dog with the family when you come to VCFA, know that you will still have plenty of doggy energy to keep you happy! Locals joke that there are more dogs than people in Montpelier, and it often seems that they are right!
Parnell and George
Happenings at School
We’re in our second module now, Amahl has gone home to Berlin. We will miss him, and he us (from the horses mouth!) Jericho Parms is teaching a craft module on incorporating joy into your writing. Considering the shape of the world these days, it’s a great subject matter. We could all use a little more joy, both in our lives and in our writing.
Award winning Vermont author Sean Prentiss is also teaching two classes this module, one on Environmental writing and one on Thesis Planning and Mapping.
We had a Professional Development class with agents Jeff Kleinman and Sonali Chanchani, of Folio Literary agency. They also had a question-and-answer session at last Friday’s Cafe Anna reading. Due to bad weather, the crowds were slight, which made for an intimate setting, and lots of answered questions.
The next in the reading series will take place on Friday, February 28th from 5:30-7:30pm in the College Hall Chapel. It will feature Faculty member Jericho Parms, Visiting Writers Stephen Aubrey and Diana Norma Szokolyai, and Visiting Composer Dennis Shafer (who will accompany Szokolyai’s poetry). Please join us.
Post Script
(Or, When Monday was *Sun*day)
The Cloud-Guy took Part of the day off, but the Sunbeam-Guy covered for him.
It was so beautiful out on Monday, with sunshine and clear blue skies that I decided to take the same hike as the day before. And then some. I met a neighbor–and her dog, of course–and she asked me if I wanted to join her in
College Hall and Camel’s Hump
hiking “the loop”. I am so glad I did. Not only did I get to know her a little better, I also saw some gorgeous scenery, like this shot of College Hall with Camel’s Hump in the background. Stunning!
And, of course, the dog loved running in the sunshine too!
Flying Parnell
The snow keeps falling, followed by rain, then sun, then snow again. The winter walks are as delightful as the summer walks, and the views may just be more inspiring. It’s wonderful as a writer to be in a place as varied and beautiful as Montpelier. Whenever I
get stuck on something, stumble over a bit of writer’s block, I amble outside for some fresh air and exercise to get my thoughts flowing again. We’re lucky to be here!
This Friday’s Professional Development Seminar is being led by playwright Amahl Khouri 
I’ll probably always start these posts with something about the beauty of Vermont, and what a special place 
hang on the bottom branches of skeleton forms. Other leaves have just started the jettison process. When people and dogs walk through the fallen leaf-litter they make soft crunching and shooshing sounds, an early reminder of the near-inaudible underfoot crunch of the snow that’s yet to come. The locals tell me that the Fall colors haven’t been as outstanding as in previous years, due to having a drier than normal September, but the leaves have been vibrant enough to make this California girl’s heart go pitter-pat.
California and Vermont have many similarities: stunning vistas, sophisticated cities with lots of liberal, artsy folks. Cities in Vermont are smaller, of course. Montpelier, for example, is the nation’s smallest state capital, with nearly eight-thousand people. Eight-thousand people would be a town in California, not a city. There’s no doubt, however that Montpelier is a city. It’s downtown area bustles during the day, with locals, those with business at the Statehouse, and tourists. 
This easy hike begins just steps outside of the back door of the Glover dorms and takes you through a grassy area called 
recent tagging it has an ancient or otherworldly feel, with slate walls forming a tall and narrow canyon. It’s quiet and peaceful, and a great place to meditate, or write, or even just sit. It feels as though there’s no one around for a hundred miles, and yet…you can be back downtown in less than a half an hour!
There’s also 
Register of Historic Places.) The park was established in 1899 with the bequeathing of its original 134 acres. The tower sits on land that was deeded to the city in 1911, at the very summit of Capitol Hill. Not only could you see all around the countryside from that summit, the tower stood out like a beacon to those downtown and at the Capitol Building. The hope was that seeing the tower on the hill would draw visitors up to the park.That worked until 1961 when the pines planted on the previously clear-cut pastureland grew tall enough to block the view.