Vermont Women's Conference

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

So I decided to go to this conference to get feedback on my ideas for being a farmer/rancher (more about that in a future post). I had no idea how many women would attend, but I had a pretty good idea that I would be the only person of color. I was wrong! When I walked in there was actually another Black woman there - I immediately introduced myself. She was a dear! We attended the same workshops and had lunch together. She invited up to her home. Later I saw two other women who were ambiguously ethnic (unknown ethnic origin). I was strangely encouraged. And everyone else I met in the workshops and at the organization tables were very nice.

The keynote speaker was Lilly Ledbetter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - the first Act President Obama signed into law. She was fabulous! She was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy who was joined by his spouse. The President of Vermont Technical College, where the even was held, was a pretty good speaker as well. I completed bogarded (is that a racial slur?)my way to the front of the line and took a picture with them.










Senator Leahy's office sponsored this conference. He chatted with me about the picture he took of President Obama (I just love writing that) signing the act. He stood behind President Obama and took the only picture from behind. Leahy and his wife presented the picture to Ms. Ledbetter. Leahy also advised me he had a Black son (in law?) and several Black grandchildren. Apparently his son is now one of the photojournalists on President Obama's staff. Then he had his assistant take my name. Not sure why, maybe he wants this picture...?

The workshops I attended were pretty good - very informative and encouraging. The other women had some fabulous, eco-friendly, interesting ideas, all in various stages of development. Stuff I never would have thought of. Although everyone was pretty friendly, I was hesitant to share my business ideas. I wasn't sure it was a safe space. But a wise friend of mine once told me that we create our own safe spaces. So I shared my ideas and was very encouraged by the feedback.

The inspirational speaker at the conclusion was good. She said if we always have to witness something before we can do it, we will never be the first (like President Obama) and we will be limited to what others have already done. I liked that.

SolarFest

When we moved up here, we decided we were going to go as green as possible. The first thing we did was get a small plastic container to start composting. I had read and heard lots of different ways (with and without meat products for example). We were pretty good about putting our table scraps, paper towels, egg shells, etc into the pail. We felt pretty good about it, until it began to smell. Badly. We had neglected to prepare for the next step - having an outside container to mix the leaves and grass and indoor stuff with. We abandoned te idea until we could get it together. Then I saw and advertisement for SolarFest. SolarFest boasted seminars, vendors, and general information about green living. We just had to go! It was over an hour away in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont. The drive was beautiful through back roads and some highways. Some of the signs were obscure or downright missing. When we crossed the border into upstae New York we knew we were lost, but some nice folks gave us a map (mine was in the other car) and redirected us.

It stormed the night before, so we were glad we decided to go on Sunday.

It was alittle muddy but my Jeep handled it very well. :) Some people got stuck in the mud.

Although this festival was over 10 years old, this new locatio was only a couple of years old. Someone had donated their hundreds of acres for the festival to use. People had camped overnight. It was kind of wierd watching people (OK a bunch of white people) walking around barefoot. It wasn't the cleanest environment (muddy) and it wasn't the easiest terrain (very hilly) and there were branches and rocks all over the place. It was pretty odd, but we ran with it.

We were impressed with the effort to make this event as green as possible using solar energy. We attended one seminar and Mark was ready to go. But I dragged him around to the vendors so we would discuss possibilities for our home. Did you know that approximately 30% of heating costs are from heating water? We found a cool solar system with tubes that mounts to the roof and connects directly to your hot water heater. Very efficient, guaranteed to reduce your bills.

They had great food too. I even got Mark to try some vegeterian food. OK, I tricked him into trying it. But he grudgingly agreed that it was good.

This is a solar powered car. They also had the next generation of solar powered full sized cars as well

It was a beautiful venue.

Yeah, we had to use port a lets. At least they had hand sanitizer, which makes it alittle less gross.

Separately, I was filling up my water bottle at a faucet they had set up when a woman walks up, turns the faucet off, pulls my bottle up to the spout and turns the water back on. She says that I was wasting water by not holding my bottle way up to the faucet. I thought I was not getting other peoples germs by holding my bottle away...

We saw a representative from the State of Vermont who explained the different programs and incentives for converting to solar, wind or geothermal power. Apparently wind isn't an option unless you're in a very windy area. The poles have to be about sixty feet high which some communities consider unsightly. He gave us a list of approved vendors and schooled us on going green. He was cool.

They had events for families with kids. I think this guy was doing puppets.

The orange thing is a portable hot tub. You heat the water by burning wood which heats up the coils. Very cool, but very expensive. I think it looks like a giant tea cup.

Back home, we called a local name on the list of approved vendors. He was very nice. But, when he came by, he told us our roof needed to have southern exposure. The south facing part of our roof doesn't get sun since our front yard is FULL of trees!!! I did a little research just to make sure he wasn't shining us on and he is correct. So what do you do, cut down trees so you can have solar power? That doesn't make sense. What we can do for electricity is mount solar panels on poles in the back of our property (how ugly is that!) but tht doesn't work for the water. So we have to investigate other options. Does that suck or what!?!?

Where’s the Rap Station? & Pitch Black!

So Mark has been working in Montpelier (the state capitol) the past couple of weeks renovating a 1700s two family house. He walks to the main drag to get lunch from one of the food carts. One day, he sees this Black guy shuffling along toward him. This guy has his hat on backwards and is wearing slouchy pants (that's all the description I could get from Mark). So this guy looks up, sees Mark, starts grinning, and jogs toward him. He greets Mark warmly and says "Hey man! You are the first Black person I've seen in months!" Apparently this guy is in some kind of program (that's all the information Mark got). Mark advises him there are a couple of Black folks around, but not many. This guy had never been to the Northeast before and hates it. He then asks Mark "where can I find the Rap station?" Mark laughs and says, not around here. If he was a little closer to Burlington he would get a mixed station that occasionally plays top 40 hip hop. The guy was deflated after this news. He was from California and was familiar with my home town in the Central Valley (which is very small). So I told Mark we should invite him over for dinner, or go meet him for drinks or something. But Mark didn't get his name or number or give the guy our contact info. Mark just shrugs and says "I know where to find him". We'll see…

 

Then last Friday night, Mark takes me to his friend's house. I've been hearing about this friend Bart for a couple of months. I've only met him and his girlfriend once. They seem like a nice young couple. Yes, they are white. The stories Mark tells about them are very interesting. Apparently Bart modified a truck by taking the back and sides off the bed of the truck. They bolted a couch (yes a sofa/couch) to the bed of the truck with seat belts. They go up further in the mountains, gleefully going through mud and rocks, with the truck and someone strapped to the couch in the bed. One time they flipped the truck. Fortunately, because the guy was strapped in, he didn't get hurt. Another time he and Mark went quadding in the mountains. The truck stalled and wouldn't start so they had to walk back. Mark said it was pitch black and Bart just said "follow me, my house is right over there" while he points into the pitch black. Mark was doubtful but had no choice but to follow Bart. Guess what, Bart was right, thankfully.

So, we went over Bart's for homemade chili that he and his girlfriend made. I wasn't sure what to expect with all the stories Mark told me. Plus Mark warns on the way over, that they are very county. I had seen the outside of the house only. I saw two cats and two dogs inside the house when we got there. They interacted with the animals a lot. I decided if they didn't wash their hands that I wasn't going to eat. Well, they washed their hands before serving us. And the chili - It was pretty good. Bart's brother and several friends stopped by after dinner. We had a great time chatting. Bart's brother entertained us with stories of his cows getting into the college cornfield and raising and butchering 400 chickens this past summer. He's about to start milking cows on a farm this fall. Every morning at 4am… I can't imagine.

So when we left it was pitch black (no street lights in the country). Got me thinking about those scary movies where for someone unknown or obscure reason people are in the middle of nowhere driving in the dark and get attacked by some alien/monster/maniac. Guess who's always the first to die… Black people! I don't think I spoke on the way home because I was praying to the good Lord not to let us have some mysterious car trouble. There is no way I would walk the several miles home or the several miles back to Bart's or the several miles to the nearest gas station. Plus there was no way I was staying in the truck in the pitch black by myself. Thank goodness we made it home without incident. I was not interested in being in the headlines as the petrified Black woman who perished under mysterious (or not so mysterious) circumstances on a pitch black country road in Vermont…

OMG! It's been 4 months in Vermont!!!

“Now nothing seems as strange as when the leaves began to change Or how we thought those days would never end” I can't believe it's Autumn next week. Over the past four months I've taken a bunch of pictures in Vermont. We've been all over the state courtesy of craigslist (for those great deals on stuff I just have to have) or riding around on the bike. Check them out:

4th of July Part 2

The highlight of the weekednd was on Sunday, when we went up to Burlington which is on Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain is celebrating its quadracentennial (400 years). As part of that celebration, The Roots performed in Waterfront Park. It was a fabulous performance. "I push my seed in her bush for life. It's gonna work because I'm pushin' it right. And if Mary dropped my baby girl tonight, I would name her rock'n'roll."

4th of July in Vermont

Vermont was beautiful for Independence Day. Mark and I went downtown and watched a small town parade. I thought it was going to be a small town turnout. But there was a bunch of people. Did the whole state turn out? We found that the parade was sponsored by the "Area" Chamber of Commerce. That explained why there was so much more people than I thought there would be since at least 5 towns were participating. It was huge. We rode the dirt bike into town, thankfully, and were able to bypass a lot of traffic (what there is up here) and park behind a building on Main Street. The atmosphere was very festive, even though rain was threatening all morning. It finally poured later in the day. I have never seen so many tractors in my life. Big, small, old, and new. A farmer's dream, I'm sure. The funniest was the Amtrak train that comes through town stops right in the middle of Main Street, in the middle of the parade. But that didn't dissuade folks from keeping their perch right on the tracks… I think I caught the spirit of the day.

I’ve Got Worms! Mom’s Got Jokes…

My garden has been working well for me, despite my poor watering skills. The consultants came to check on the garden last week, so right before they came, guess what Mark and I were doing…WEEDING! And we found lots of worms. According to several websites "Worms are so important to the health and vitality of your soil. They help increase the amounts of air and water in the soil, they help with the decomposition of organic matter and they leave behind fertilizer in the form of castings. They're kind of like little tillers in your garden." Although they are super yucky ( I almost screamed when I flung the first couple of my fingers), they are nutrient rich and important to the health of the garden.

The garden was pronounced doing well by the consultants. In spite of the moderate climate in Vermont, and the regular rain we get, I do need to do more watering (OK I need to water period!). And more weeding… The Mizuna and Curly Cress are sprouting like mad. The squash is growing nicely, the Rhubarb is overdue for cutting, and the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are growing nicely. The corn, onions and peppers need alittle help. The spinach isn't doing so well, but the collards look great. We got lucky.

Then we go to visit my family in Central California. It was in the mid 70s when we left Vermont. In Southern Cali, it was 90! Then we went up to the Central Valley to see the parents. It was triple digits there! I forgot about all this heat. I wilted. And so did my Mom's potted flowers she bought for an event. We watered them and spritzed them and some revived. It reminded me of my garden, which wouldn't have stood a chance in this climate. I would just have a pile of dirt.

So while we're visiting my mother is making jokes. She asked if they checked our passports at the airport. Now that we live in Vermont, we're foreigners. Ha ha ha. If the population in Vermont was 600,000, it's now 600, 002 with the addition of Mark and I. Ha ha ha. Mark and I just doubled the Black population in the state of Vermont. Of course we said we've seen/met several Blacks, but Mom doesn't believe it. And when they visit next month she and Joy (my sister) are going to be doing their own census of Blacks. I told her traffic was light during my commute to and from volunteering in Burlington. Mom's response was, how could there be traffic with only 300 people in the state.

We had a lovely visit. We had a catered family dinner which was superb. And my parents hosted a Summer Salad Celebration. Although it was hotter than Hades, we had a blast.

My parents and one of my sisters will be visiting us in Vermont in a few weeksw. Their visit will surely offer comic relief. It might be a good time to invite our neighbors over for an introduction.