Reconnecting with Vernon

"I wouldn't say really good I just enjoy being in the woods " -Michael D Root

Some statements really resonate with me. They prompt me to form connections, then they start to form sentences which eventually turn into an entire blog. 

Wayne and I decided to be dedicated Candlepin bowlers pre covid pandemic, not because we initially loved the sport; but because we were in search of a thing to connect with. Truth be told, I was terrible at bowling and I never seemed to get any better with our weekly games. I looked forward to people watching, patting the owner's dogs, eating doughy pizza and laughing like a kid when our feet slid out from under us. So when our adult children visited, we brought them along for the whole experience, not just the stiff competition.

 I'm a firm believer in finding a reason to love something (or someone), perhaps this is why one of my all time favorite songs is R.E.M.'s Stand. 

When our kids were small, back in the days when we were chronically exhausted and we didn't have any money in the budget for entertainment, we used to pack them up along with a red and black checkered blanket to attend area concerts in the park. I'll never forget the one time I took the kids on my own and was happily watching them twirl and dance to the music, when a stranger with a baby in her arms walked over and sat down next to me on that blanket. Just like that I met a kindred spirit. 

Friends of Vernon Center hosted a community gathering last weekend at the Governor Hunt House as a way to celebrate what I think of as an initiative to rebuild connectedness. This is what small towns are all about. Though I think that when times and situations are tough small towns are at their best, there is important reason to gather without any other purpose than to talk with friends and meet new ones. Small towns after all, seem to be filled with old family history deserving to be told and those neighbors longing to begin their family's history in them. 

The band played music from an older generation but it felt like going home to me

I enjoy Donald's drive by conversations in the neighborhood. Once my hound quiets down I have just about one to three minutes to grasp some of the best updates with regards to nature doings in town. Don's a hunter, a dedicated Vernon Trail Breakers member and a quiet champion of conservation. If I could only learn to keep my own mouth shut once that truck window goes down, I'd know a lot more about Vernon than I do. On this day, I came away with his sentiment that neighbors don't seem to be outside this summer. I'm wondering Don, if that doesn't have something to do with these man eating mosquitos? But Don has a point, here we are almost at the start of school year and the neighborhood is quiet. 

Kids sent outdoors on long summer days often discover that the best toys are those they find when their imagination connects with nature.

Wayne and I have hiked the town forest trails together many times. I'm a bit of a slow hiker and so I am shy of joining others when venturing out. Wayne says that I am slow because I am always stopping to look at things and I suspect that he is partly right. I never seem to get tired of walking the familiar trails and taking the opportunity to get acquainted with something (okay, everything) I find along the way. 

One day Sandy, a coworker of mine at Vernon Elementary School, asked if I would be willing to show her around the J. Maynard Miller Town Forest; and before we knew it, an informal group of us had a budding tradition on our hands. Now I'm as eager as the next person to put my work life aside come summer; but this has become something of a truly special gathering of coworkers. At first I had thought that the point of the venture was to hike as much of the forest as possible in a couple of  hours. I soon became aware that my friends were falling further and further behind which is a position that I practically never find myself in. A quick refocus on my part and I discovered that they were talking about everything, and none of it had to do with hiking. On our subsequent ventures, I came less prepared for hiking and more prepared for reconnecting with good people in a place that I love.

Cheryl telling us the story about how the hawk she rescued from a treacherously busy road took off the moment she and Peter released it.

Jill shares pictures from her vacation out west.

Jill and Helen take a minute to catch up. 

On the day that it was announced that the Vernon Recreation Department's new nine hole Disk Golf course was ready to go, without asking Wayne, I purchased a beginner disk set for each of us. When the sets arrived, Wayne and I walked over to the course where I learned that I am worse at Disk Golf than I am at Candlepin Bowling. Soon, I began to lament that someone had mistakenly wrote "par 3" where they actually meant to write par 10! The course begins in the open ball field which can be looked at in two ways. On the one hand the disks were safe from being lost as they sailed in the complete opposite direction at which I was throwing them. On the other hand, there I was with the whole town having an unobstructed view of my "skills." It was with some relief that we entered the woods in spite of the mosquitoes feasting upon us and the poor trees taking on a good battering from my disks. 

Somewhere along the course we discovered a Geo Cache box and after I had posted about it on the Vernon Vermont Facebook Group, I fell into a conversation with Michael D Root from where the beginning quote in this entry came. My readers can only guess how relieved I am to connect with another resident who joins in on games because of some other more poetic reason than being a pro at it.

I stopped counting on the first hole, but still I felt like a champion when it went in!

Now how did this picture of me and Jen winning the silver medal in Cornhole get here? -Norma Manning

High Point Trail at J. Maynard Miller Town Forest

The J. Maynard Miller Town Forest in Vernon is a 469 acre town forest that is " home to seven rare and uncommon plants and one rare animal." The trails throughout are extremely family friendly and provides hikers with an opportunity to experience the VT class one wetlands designation candidate - Black Gum Swamps.

Recreation Director, Seth Deyo contacted me recently and asked if I had hiked on the new High Point trail which has an elevation of 1150 feet.  Seth and his brother Ian have been clearing a vista on the .25 mile trail giving  hikers the chance to rise above the swamps for an impressive view of Mount Snow in Dover, VT.

If you go, there is plenty of trail head parking on Basin rd along with a place to pick up a trail map and read about the history and environmental significance of the area. Your hike begins at 910 feet with a choice of accessing the Yellow/ High Point trail by either the White tail loop to the right or the Red and White trail to the left.

Let's go for a hike shall we? -Norma Manning

Addendum by Seth Deyo: Jeff Nugent from the Windham Regional Commission has been our mapping/ GPS expert throughout the entire project including the High Point Trail (yellow trail).  As far as construction of that specific trail...The Recreation Department seasonal staff also played a big role.  There are a few trees left that are larger than my comfort level cutting.  As always the Highway Department has been kind enough to lend us a hand...

Quarts is commonly found along the trails

A seasonal stream on the Red and White trail

It's uncommon to find trees and brush across this family friendly trail

Ledge makes for interesting tree stands

Taking the white trail to the yellow at the junction

The edge of the upper swamp

The Yellow trail is the High Point Trail

Hikers will see forest at various stages of growth

The change in elevation from the parking lot to the high point is 240 ft

Picnic tables available at the high point - 1150 ft

On a clear day Mt Snow is visible

The Yellow trail above, the Blue trail to the right below

Mushroom hung to dry by squirrl in Black Gum Swamp: by Kayden Manning 2019

J. Maynard Miller Black Gum Swamp 1973. Can anyone post the same shot 47 years later?