Cows and Ducks

Yesterday was a "very Vermont day."

My co-workers and I drove down to Brattleboro or "Brat" for short (about 25 minutes) around lunch time to look at new office chairs. On the way back, about a mile from the College, we were stopped by a utility worker standing in the road. She was middle-aged with curly blonde hair and a scrunchy--a throw back to 1988.

"Where ya headed?"

"The College."

"Well there's a live wire down in the road so ya can't go that way. Do ya know the back way?"

You mean there's a "back way to the college?! Let me explain--in order to get to the College you turn off a "highway" (I put it in quotations because, yes, it's an interstate with a number, but calling it a highway would be generous), and head down a country road for about two miles that takes you through the local village "center"--a post office, historical society, and 18th century New England church. Oh, and the weather was windy, but sunny...losing power here is fairly regular occurrence.

At this point I turned to my co-worker--we'll call him Dave--who is a native of Brat, who just sort of stares back. Ms. 1988 sees our confusion and proceeds, "Well just head down Ames Hill. Don't take the right to South Pond but instead get on Cow Path 40. Now once you're on Cow Path 40..."

Wait, did she just say COW PATH 40? I didn't catch it the first time she said it but I most definitely did the second time. ".....you're gonna want take a right onto Thomas Hill and then a left...." I tuned out at this point to contemplate the name "Cow Path 40" and hoped Dave was listening. So I get the "cow path" part--must of been a path for cows at some point, right? But why the 40? Was this some interstate for cows? Or "the back 40?" Someone had 40 acres or 40 cows at some point? I was thoroughly perplexed. 

Fortunately Dave was listening and seemed to know where we were going. So we turned onto a dirt road and the adventure began!

Now don't get me wrong, being from the Midwest originally I've seen my fair share of dirt roads. It just seems that most of the village was a dirt road. When we got to Cow Path 40...well there was no sign. Dave pointed out that it is one of the most stolen signs in Vermont. While I can't verify that, in college I would have definitely loved to see it hanging in my dorm room. As we bumped down the country dirt road, Dave would point to patches of trees saying "well so and so lives there and that's so and so's place, they built it." While peaceful out here, I'm not sure I quite understand why people would choose to live here. Of course, I could never quite figure out why people wanted to live in the gated-overly-planned communities in cookie cutter houses in Florida either. I like having privacy I guess, I just want know my neighbor can hear me scream in case of a bear attack. 

20 MINUTES  later and another unmarked road we circled our way back to the College....Had Dave not been in the car I'm convinced I would still be wandering the back roads of southern Vermont.

Speaking of Dave, he and his wife just bought ducks. Why ducks? Well they hope to one have a pond to put the ducks in. In fact Dave started to dig his own pond one day, just cause. He lives out on one of the back roads we spent the afternoon transversing. He'd been talking about the baby ducks for the last few weeks so the Office Manager and I--Amanda will call her--decided it was time to see the little bundle of joy.

Upon entering Dave's house, he took us to a den. There stood a 30 gallon rubbermaid container containing four peeping ducks! I think I have to put duckings up there with kittens and puppies for cuteness factor. After feeding them and holding them for bit, Dave's wife yelled "Everybody grab a duck! Time to swim." So we all, well, grabbed a duck and proceeded to move them to the porch to another rubbermaid filled with water.

So here I sat on Thursday night in Vermont, watching pet ducks swim a plastic tub. Who says I need cable?

Oh, and on a side note tonight I'm having country style ribs I bought from a local farmer and organic green beans--yum! Not to rub it in or anything....:)