The Vermont Adventure, So Far

(Written two days ago. It is pouring rain at present.)

The sun just peeked out from behind the clouds to shine on the mountain for the first time in days. The weatherman last night announced that this was the 4th wettest October on record in the Champlain Valley, the region of Vermont in which I live. Only Son’s daughter was here on a long awaited visit last week; it rained every other day while she was here. But to look out of the window onto the valley and see the layers of cloud cover over the lake and the lower areas was, and is, magnificent. Even Granddaughter was struck by the loveliness.

Yet as I type this, peering on occasion through the window to see faded autumnal colors against a brilliant blue sky, I know that I won’t see many of these Vermont Octobers.

Taciturn has decided that although he likes Vermont, it is as a place to vacation and not as a place to live. He doesn’t feel as if it is home--his home. We have been here all of eight entire months and have not yet completed unpacking. But his decision is made.

Several unfortunate things have happened that I’m sure influenced his decision. One was the house we bought. We were had, no way around it. Structurally it is more sound than not. But we realized after closing that there was a reason the art work all remained on the wall until the last minute, etc. The furniture and the art were arranged to hide a multitude of cosmetic sins such as large carpet stains, holes in walls, things like that. We paid major money for a secret fixer upper. Of course we purchased the house from a real estate lawyer, so no point in attempting to recoup anything.

Soon we realized that many of the windows did not close. The inspector told us some of the windows would need to be replaced, but after we moved in it was obvious most of them needed to be replaced. Kissed one full week and many, many thousands of dollars good bye.

The summer this year was extraordinarily hot. Living in northern New England, we did not think we would need an air conditioned house. Most houses aren’t air conditioned anyway. Taciturn is very susceptible to heat and suffered enormously. We inherited a room sized portable a/c unit, but it didn’t do the job. We purchased another, larger unit but needed to install a vent hole in the wall; we hired a fellow who had worked for the previous owner to do that for us. He agreed to the job--but never came to do the work. Meanwhile, at my new parish, I met a construction worker. He ended up doing the job after a few weeks of suffering while we waited for the first fellow.

Other things happened, but the biggest reason Taciturn decided that Vermont was not meant to be his home was that the house in South Dakota, the big house with all new appliances and newly painted walls that he always loved, did not sell. Taciturn, while not a religious man, began to consider maybe God did not mean for it to sell so again it could be his home. He said nothing to me about this gnawing inside of him.

As Taciturn mused, I threw myself into creating a life. I joined a health club and took up spinning. Saturday mornings I walked into town and bought a weeks’ worth of veggies at the farmers’ market. I had coffee with friends. Writers’ workshops were easy to attend as so many were close. Many Episcopal churches are in the area and I visited until I found a lovely small parish in which the people love each other as a real family. I even was invited to write an essay describing the role of the local alternative newspaper in our decision to move. Imagine my amazement when my essay was published on its own page!

Yet it seemed the more I threw myself into this new life, the more my husband backed away. The day after I submitted the essay to the alternative newspaper, he announced the epiphany that Vermont never could be his home. I had noticed that he did not seem to engage in life here, but he did not engage in life in South Dakota, either. There I was out of the house and busy all of the time but wanted to move away. He said he wanted to be there but seldom left the house. While still in South Dakota, I took that ennui to mean he really wanted to move away also.

Turned out I was very wrong.

More to come...

It's a small church

A few months ago, one of my closer friends from seminary called me out of the blue as she remembered I had lived at one time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. "Do you know about St J's?" she asked. Of course I did--I had been a member of the parish and in fact had started EfM there. I continue to be in touch with some people I had known there and read the parish newsletter online. I told her it was a lovely, vibrant parish in an equally lovely, vibrant coastal community.

Turns out she was discerning if she should apply for the associate rector position at St. J's. The wheels of call turn slowly, as they should, and just a few days ago she messaged me on Facebook to tell me she had "news". She indeed was called to the position and will start at the end of next month! I am so happy for her--and for St. J's. She will be a good fit for the parish and vice versa.

Sounds like it will be time soon for a trip back to the Coast! This is my first in what I'm sure will be a series of small church moments. Fun.

Another chapter of Sunday musings

Slept like a rock last night. I felt better today than I have in days. Sleep is NOT overrated! Got lots of work done around the house today.

My friend AMH from my year at VTS called today; she is being interviewed for a position at the church T and I attended on the Mississippi Gulf Coast when he was at Keesler AFB. We chatted about my impressions during the time we were there (we liked the parish a lot). After we hung up, I remembered some of the folks I was friendly with in this parish and wrote a bunch of emails just to say hi. The one and only time I was asked to be a godparent was in this parish. The Episcopal Church is a small church, to be sure.

Recalling the reason I did not leave on time yesterday from work...can't really give details without violating the privacy of those involved. Just be sure that you have everything you want legally done with your affairs taken care of before you are incapacitated. Some innocents will suffer since in their case that wasn't done.

This job is really making me think about things I'd never, ever considered before. Certainly, to make sure all is in order at all times just in case is a true act of love.