High above the Connecticut River sits a mile-long shelf comfortably nestled within the broad curve of the oxbowing waterway in the fertile eastern valley beneath the rolling foothills of the Green Mountains. It had long attracted inhabitants, but the vagaries of violence had repeatedly forced them out.
The land lies dormant. But enticing. Open. Exposed. Its potential untapped.
Beyond the mountains, out of sight, Albany holds court, too distant to exercise its authority over the outer reaches of its boundary. Closer, on the opposite shore of the river, New Hampshire saw it as an avenue of expansion.
Both colonies claimed it. Neither controlled it.
Yet, into that void, settlers arrived.
The first colonists to settle what would become Westminster, Vermont, came from Continue Reading “The Shot Not Heard ’Round the World: Vermont’s First Taste of Independence”
Thoughts Beyond The Milky Way
If it inspired Vincent van Gogh, then it’s obviously not just me. I think it’s a lot of people. In fact, it’d be a lot more people if they just stopped paying attention to clickbait news for a moment. Imagine the awe they’d experience if they spent a clear night on the highest hill well above the tree line.
Their minds free, they’d see what Plato saw so many centuries ago. A wonder so great can’t help but focus one’s thoughts on pure, unadulterated introspection.
Would that calm frayed nerves? Or would it only make things worse?
I’ve always fallen into the first category. Do you?
For as long as I can remember, the stars have captivated me. Not just the stars. Not just the space between the stars. But what was beyond those stars.
Think of it as the moral equivalent of thoughts evoked when contemplating what lies beyond Continue Reading “Thoughts Beyond The Milky Way”