This past Saturday I expected it to be gloomy and cold. Afterall, we’re in Vermont. It’s October. We can’t have too high of hopes for the weather. When I woke up in the morning the air was frigid and there was frost on my car. All I could think about was how Chloe and Remy had told me they were planning to get in the water for the photo shoot.
When I arrived I was hit with instant nostalgia. The pond is a place where I spent a lot of time growing up. It was a favorite family hike and a classic high school make-out spot. Chloe had told me that the foliage stays bright there later than most other spots around. It’s because the pond is mostly surrounded by oak trees. And while I believed her when she said it, I was awestruck when I saw it. The pond, to me, was mostly a summer hangout. I’d never seen it in the fall. A place I thought I knew so well, yet one that still held a little bit of unfamiliar magic. A natural beauty you can only find in Vermont at a very specific time of year.
Chloe and Remy are the caretakers of the property. They greeted me with warm smiles, the type you might get from old friends. And a pup, Katara, leaping with excitement. They were so gracious and endearing. They told me where the pond came from, how it was originally made for drinking water, an idea that was later abandoned. They told me about the ice fishers arriving at the crack of dawn on the coldest winter mornings and the types of plants native to the pond. They explained how every year around this time they spread the fluffy white milkweed seeds to grow new plants for the monarch butterflies in the spring. They told me about the high schoolers trying to stay in the parking lot after dusk when the park closes. I joked that my little brother was probably one of them. He later told me over the phone that he’d received a warning there before.
Chloe showed me the area where they had laid her soul dog to rest. A pot of mums marked Charlie’s spot and a swing bench waited nearby so that they could still spend time with him. As Chloe explained the story of how she fell in love with Charlie I got teary eyed thinking about the bond I share with my own dog who’s been with me through so much. I was moved by her vulnerability and honored to have shared in this part of their story.
The grand finale of our photo shoot was when Chloe and Remy took their cold plunge. Luckily, for my sanity, it had warmed up significantly by the time we were reaching the end of the shoot (I was really worried for them). But they reassured me that this is something they do all year long. I couldn’t stop marveling at how brave they both were to get in the water on a 50 degree day. Chloe explained to me that it has had tremendous benefits for her health and wellbeing. Remy told me it was like getting high and drinking caffeine at the same time, that it also feels very natural. Like a deep internal calm but feeling energized for what comes next. I’ll admit, they have me kind of convinced. It doesn’t hurt that the photos came out absolutely stunning. When it was all said and done, they told me they do it every New Years and invited me to come out for it. And honestly? I’m considering!
So why the title “Ode to Vermont”? Perhaps it’s because the beautiful foliage and all the talk about dogs, meeting someone new but feeling like you’re old friends, the fact that the best thing the teens can think of to do in the area is hangout at the pond, Chloe generously giving me homemade pickles and a pie pumpkin from her garden after the shoot, the nostalgia of taking a trip back to an old jaunt. All of which feel quintessentially Vermont to me. Or maybe its the fact that having lived here most of my life, no matter how often I try to leave, I always end up back here. The nature, the people, the beauty, the feeling, it all has a way of burrowing deep into your soul to always draw you back in. And maybe its the fact that, even after an entire lifetime spent here, there’s always another magical little surprise waiting for me.
