Vermont Vignettes

I can't help it. Driving around town(s) I just keep noticing things that are uniquely Vermont, at least in my life experience. Here's a sampling:

1. Finding a Nursing Home. I'm trying to find a nursing home in a town I've only driven through once. I can't remember the name of the nursing home but the vague instructions I've been given are, "Drive north on 110 and it's right as you enter town." As I enter town on 110 North I do not see a nursing home anywhere. So, knowing how things work around here, I stop at the local country store where information about every person in town can be found. I mention that I'm looking for a nursing home. Storekeeper: Oh, you must be looking for Riverside. Me: Yeah, that must be it. Storekeeper: You goin' to visit someone? Me: Vivian Kill. She hasn't been here long. Storekeeper: Oh, yeah, I know the Kills. Isn't her mother Mary? They used to live in Tunbridge, right? That old yellow house? Me: I don't know her mother, I'm just here to visit Vivian. Storekeeper: Right, right. Well, you see that sign down the road? Go past that sign about three houses and it's right there on the left. You can pull right in. Me: Thanks a lot. Do you sell any magazines? Storekeeper: Magazines? No, I have the newspaper and Vermont Life but who has time to read magazines? They just sit on the shelf and get all dusty. There's a library over there (waves at window). Me: Across the street? Storekeeper: Yeah, you see that brick building? Me: That one? Storekeeper: No, that's not a brick building. That one, over there. Me: Isn't that the town hall? Storekeeper: Yeah, it's the town hall and the library. I think it's even open. Me: Of course. Well, thanks. Storekeeper: No problem. You have a nice visit now.
2. Getting directions. Everyone knows that following directions around here is based on your ability to read landmarks. Here's an example (and I quote directly): "Go up the road to the new bridge. Don't go over the bridge but take the little road right before it. Follow that road up to the big red barn. Turn right and then go a ways up to the big pine tree. Turn left. Our house is at the end of the road next to the cemetery." Perhaps, like me, you're thinking, "No one could ever possibly find this place using those directions." However, I kid you not, as I drove up the road sure enough, there was the new bridge. And the big red barn? Huge! And the big pine tree? Only pine tree in the area. I was able to find the house with no problem. Pretty amazing, right?
3. Picture Perfect. I didn't have my camera with me, but today I saw just the ideal Vermont scene. A bumpy country road surrounded by gorgeous hills covered in bright orange, russet reds, yellows, greens and browns. To my right ran a bubbly river and directly ahead of me was a big old red barn, paint peeling with a silver silo beside it and framed all around with the beautiful colors of fall and a few picturesque cows on the hillside. It really was lovely. Too bad I don't paint!
4. Typically Casual. I was walking down the road this morning (for fitness) and this car pulled over to the right and parked. Out got a woman, gray hair flying, mud-stained T-shirt and jeans, in her bare feet. She walked across the road and into her house directly beside me. I marveled at how cool it is to leave your house and drive somewhere in your bare feet with not a care in the world. We're not in Boston anymore!