 |
| Montpelier, VT 1962 ~~~ |
Vermont was our country’s 14th star. Straddlers, New Hampshire and New York both claimed it, but in the end, it became its own state.
When Oldman and then Blogmother first arrived in the Green Mountain State, it was empty. An occasional Native American here or there, and the rest was trees and green. That’s not exactly true, although it’s closer than you may think.
~~~
As one of eight passengers in a station wagon that comfortably sat four or five, her parents took them all - Blogmother, her brothers, her sister, and their grandparents on regular excursions to anywhere. On one such trip, to appreciate the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway, they went through the most beautiful place that her kid-self had ever seen (being from Jersey may have been a low bar).
Looking at the 1962 picture of the state capitol, Montpelier looks under-populated. In fact, her suburban NYC town was larger, and from her limited 12-year old vantage, that was hilarious, quaint and mystifying.
When she was yet younger, and it mattered, Santa never delivered the pony Blogmother repeatedly requested. But she was intent.
She envisioned driving a pony-drawn cart to market while happily living in rural Vermont with books, a garden and loud music. She then commenced vaguely in pursuit of that dream. And though that vision didn’t completely result, that 12 year old's glimpse of Vermont was the fountainhead of a gratified and fortunate life.
~~~
Montpelier, late Autumn, 1962
 |
Summer, 2019
There are roughly 1,000 fewer people living in Montpelier in 2019 than there were in 1962. Blogmother is chortling while she considers that.
~~~
Pictures are from the VT Open Geodata Portal
Comments