"For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her"

"Emily's Bridge"

Gold Brook Bridge, locally referred to as Emily's bridge is located in Stowe, Vermont.  It is so called Emily's Bridge, and thus haunted by Emily herself.  Urban Legend indicates that she was a rejected bride who was supposed to meet her lover at this bridge to elope.  When the man did not show, Emily hung herself.

Another version states that, distraught and despondent, she took her own life, by throwing herself off the bridge.  

And yet another variant of the story is that she ran back to her home in a fit of frenzy and jumped into the horse drawn carriage.  Traveling much too fast, she was unable to turn the carriage and was thrown from the carriage to her death.

She wears a red wedding dress.  

She wears a white wedding dress...depending upon from what source you hear the tale.  

Many a year ago, I personally hung around this bridge on a full moon and waited for midnight to arrive.  Midnight arrived and passed, and I did not see or hear any sign of Emily. 

On a personal note:  Oddly, about a year ago, when trying to post this very topic, I could not publish it, and attempted to do so for days without success.  I checked the HTML version and the composition itself, but it would not publish!  So I eventually took the whole story down from my blog!  Do you think Emily was trying to send me a message?

With so many stories of Emily, one must ask, who was she?  

The story of the haunted bridge was first brought to life around 1968, when a high school student (allegedly by the name of "Susan") wrote an essay stating that she used a Ouija Board on the bridge.  Apparently, Emily materialized and thus, identified herself.  The story is elaborated by stating that the reason Emily died was due to her lover's mother.  According to my research, there had been a tale "floating about" (couldn't resist that pun) about a ghost named Emily, around the time the paper was written, though a grave site has not been confirmed.

"Many people that have visited Emily's Bridge have experienced disturbing paranormal activity. People have reported scratch marks appearing on vehicles that were parked on the bridge, and being touched or scratched by Emily's ghost. Often strange noises are heard on the bridge, noises such as footsteps, ropes tightening, and a girl screaming. Many also have reported seeing a white apparition around the area of Emily's Bridge. People that have parked their vehicle on the haunted bridge say they tend to hear banging noses from Emily hitting the vehicle on the outside, or the sound of something dragging across the top of the car. The most paranormal events tend to take place between the hours of dusk and 9pm." -wikipedia

Stowe, has the highest number of covered bridges per square mile in Vermont.  Gold Brook Bridge was built in 1844 and in 1974, it was added to the National Register for Historic Places. 

If you travel to visit Emily, please remember that there are many residents in the surrounding area and that should be respected.  

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor....

As we set about planning our barbecues and stocking our Styrofoam coolers with beer, let us take a moment to remember Independence Day's meaning.  It is also known as The Fourth of July or Patriot's Day. It is the anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence from England, on July 4th, 1776 and this year marks its 239th anniversary.

 "In 1775, people in New England began fighting the British for their independence. On July 2, 1776, the Congress secretly voted for independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was first published two days later on July 4, 1776. The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was on July 8, 1776. Delegates began to sign the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776." -timeanddate.com

But for many of our State's Veteran's it's not all sparklers, flags and fireworks.

"VERMONT HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF HOMELESSNESS IN NEW ENGLAND; AT LEAST 66% OF VERMONT HOUSEHOLDS DO NOT EARN ENOUGH TO AFFORD THE AVERAGE FAIR MARKET RENT.  In Vermont, an estimated 125 veterans are homeless on any given night.  Studies demonstrate that veterans are particularly vulnerable to becoming chronically homeless when support services and stable housing are lacking in a community." - Committee on Temporary Shelter, Burlington, Vermont

DEMOGRAPHICS

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (four percent are females). The vast majority is single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45 percent suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon.  Source:  National Coalition for homeless veterans: http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. 47 per cent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era.

More than 67 per cent served our country for at least three years and 33 per cent were stationed in a war zone.

Here are some statistics concerning the veterans homeless from the National Coalition for the Homeless (http://www.nationalhomeless.org):

23% of homeless population are veterans
33% of male homeless population are veterans
47% Vietnam Era
17% post-Vietnam
15% pre-Vietnam
67% served three or more years
33% stationed in war zone
25% have used VA Homeless Services
85% completed high school/GED, compared to 56% of non-veterans
89% received Honorable Discharge
79% reside in central cities
16% reside in suburban areas
5% reside in rural areas
76% experience alcohol, drug, or mental health problems
46% white males compared to 34% non-veterans
46% age 45 or older compared to 20% non-veterans

Female homeless veterans represent an estimated 3% of homeless veterans. They are more likely than male homeless veterans to be married and to suffer serious psychiatric illness, but less likely to be employed and to suffer from addiction disorders. Comparisons of homeless female veterans and other homeless women have found no differences in rates of mental illness or addictions.

WHERE TO FIND ASSISTANCE for Homeless Veterans in Vermont and surrounding borders: (Links will open in a different window)

Vermont Veteran Services

VVS Home Page

New Colossus 

(also known as the Statue of Liberty Poem)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

"The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in the middle of New York Harbor, in Manhattan, New York City.

The statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad." - wiki

Have a safe and blessed Fourth!

"HAINT" Talkin' 'bout Love

Haint Blue

If you have traveled through the deep south, or, have been fortunate enough to relax on a sleepy, grand columned veranda on a warm Savannah afternoon, to sip a mint julep or a glass of sweet tea, you may have noticed the ceiling of the porch is painted blue.  This blue, called Haint Blue, is mostly prevalent in the American South.

Source: pinterest

Interestingly enough, "haint blue" can be found in a broad array of colors and you can't quite label it "haint" because it "ain't" just one color!  "Haint Blue" is used widely, but it's actual description is murky, as it can be found in a shades of periwinkle to blue violet to sky-blue (to mirror the sky); to sea-foam green (to mirror the sea).  It has been used as ceiling paint for porches, and in some cases, doors, shutters and trim-work.  Here is the best description I could find:

"Haint blue is not a specific tint or shade, but rather refers to any kind of blue paint used for the purposes of warding the house against harm." - wiki

Random Thought:

The band Type O Negative's song Entitled "Black No. 1",  makes a suggestion to "Little Miss Scare All",

Yeah you wanna go out

'cause it's raining and blowing.

You can't go out

'cause your roots are showing.

♫ ♪ Dye 'em black ♪ ♫

Perhaps a similar notion was initially employed in the southern United States, to ward off evil from their homes?  I digress....

Photo: willowbeeinspired.blogspot

Photo: apartment therapy

Origins

"Haint" is a Southern colloquialism which means "ghost" or "spirit", and is a variation of the word "haunt"; and, by employing haint blue by means of painting porch ceilings and such, is used in an effort to "confuse" spirits  or to discourage them from crossing into one's home.  In theory, it is a form of magic!

Haint Blue was created by the descendants of African Slaves known as the Geechee.  Historically, the tribe was known as the Gullah.  Speculatively, since they settled in the region near the Ogeechee River near Savannah (Georgia), they were/are often referred to as The Geechee. At one time the Gullah region encompassed a region from Cape Fear, North Carolina to the Jacksonville area of Florida. Today, it is generally South Carolina to Georgia's Low-Country. The Geechee used their tradition of painting sections of their shacks/homes shades of blue, by mixing milk, lime and indigo dyes. Ironically, lime is a natural repellent of insects, which is why - even today - the color is often believed to keep wasps, mosquitoes and other bugs from nesting in corners of porches!

Indigo dye is made from a plant extraction obtained from those in the genus Indigofera, which are native to the tropics. 

Lime (material) photo courtesy of castleheritage.co.uk

The Geechee believed that Haints were evil spirits, those that were not kind, but angry entities who thrived on creating harm, hardship and heartbreak of humans.

These spirits were thought to strongly dislike water, so in an effort to fool the spirits, the Geechee painted any possible crossings (doors, windows, thresholds, and so on) blue or blue green to look like a source of water, thereby confusing the spirits and sending them elsewhere. This tradition won the hearts of their owners who began the practice of painting their respective porch ceilings, shutters and trim work Haint Blue.

"Haints, or haunts, are spirits trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead. These are not your quiet, floaty, sorrowful ghosts, they are the kind you don’t want to mess with, and the kind you certainly don’t want invading into your humble abode looking for revenge. 

Luckily, the Gullah people remembered an important footnote to the haint legend. These angry spirits have a kryptonite: they cannot cross water. The safest place would be in an underwater bubble, or perhaps to surround your house with a moat. But the Gullah people had a much more elegant solution. They would dig a pit in the ground, fill it with lime, milk, and whatever pigments they could find, stir it all together, and paint the mixture around every opening into their homes. The haints, confused by these watery pigments, are tricked into thinking they can’t enter." -http://historiesofthingstocome.blogspot.com/2011/09/history-of-colour-haint-blue.html

art found on tumblr

Breaking In The Goldwing

Yesterday, my husband and I decided to take our first official day-trip on our new Goldwing motorcycle.   We set out from Barre, taking Route 14 to Route 2 toward Plainfield.

Photo: (edited) duischoolnv.com

As you turn off of Route 14 and onto Route 2, you do have an option of taking a left to drive toward the Hardwick area, which, in itself is a beautiful drive, but instead, we drove north-west toward St. Johnsbury.  One of the wonderful features of the Goldwing is not only the GPS, but the radio.  As we toured through Plainfield, Goddard College at 91.1 FM, we listened to an Irish ballad, and then some lovely East Indian music.

As the station faded, Russell  turned up the radio, and, we both sang loudly to music from the classic rock station, Frank and alternative music from The Point.  I can't help but wonder if people heard us driving by screaming to  "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring....but, in the end, we have fun and laugh a lot while we sing.  I should point out that we have ordered helmets that include communication devises, so if we continue on this path, we will end up hurting each other's ears.

One of the greatest advantages of traveling by motorbike is the fact that one can truly experience the rich content of your surroundings, that you don't necessarily take notice of, if you are in a car.  Another advantage, is being able to hug your Sweetie, at will.

To me, the full season of spring doesn't actually occur until this time of year in central to northern Vermont.  This is evident by the lilac and apple blossoms that are now in full bloom.  It seemed as though every town had these fragrances held in great clouds of perfume that were released just for us.

The smell of pine and cedar are also prominent as we entered into heavier forested areas.  I absolutely love these smells and tend to breath deeply passing through the wooded areas.  A word of warning, if you are in these Heaven Scent areas, and decide to pull over by the side of the road, be warned of the Noseeum bugs that will quickly swarm you, in groves. And yes, you can see them, and yes, they do bite. I got bit on my temple yesterday, but was fortunate not to have a reaction.

Other pests that you may encounter are the deer-fly and the mosquito.  Deer-fly bites hurt, swell and make that spot miserable.  (I have only been bitten once, just slightly above my knee - and the little devil took a tiny piece of me with him before I killed it.  I still have a small scar - and I can tell you that it happened at Groton State Forest).

Old Rusty, biting into his burger at Anthony's Diner.  Since it is Memorial Day weekend, it seemed only fitting that we ate All American.

We continued up Route 2, arriving in St. Johnsbury where we stopped and had lunch at Anthony's Diner.  The diner is clean and the waitress was sweet, and lunch was very good.  I was kind of shocked that my BLT was $5.95 and the milkshake Russ had was just a buck less.  That was my only complaint.

The Rock - At Island Pond

From here, we set our destination for the village Island Pond....just because.    Island Pond is actually a village of the Town of Brighton. Arriving there, I was struck with the architecture and how every building seemed to have been raised from a movie set.  I can't describe it, the lay out was just...different.  The pond located in the heart of the Village is very pretty, so Russ and I walked the path along the waterfront to get a cup of coffee and chill out for a while.

Island Pond

As we left Island Pond, we randomly traveled north-west onto Route 105, before turning south onto Route 5.  After traveling a relatively short time; suddenly before us was the unmistakable beauty of Lake Willoughby.  I am always awestruck by the mountain gap that allows the lake to run through.  It is a breath-taking view at any time of year.

Photo: Lake Willoughby: source unknown

Wind Power on Mountain top

Here I am, taking a short break, yesterday...Helmet head and all :)

To wrap up our excursion, I wanted to comment about the contrast in homes that I have noticed.  I suppose this is true anywhere, but since I live here, I tend to think about the contrasts of our environment.

It is interesting to me that you can be riding along and in one moment, you will pass by a very stately, well maintained home.  The lawn is immaculate and sometimes there are statues, or a gazebo, or perhaps an expensive landscaping theme.  Some are Federal style, some are Chateaus, and some are just plain gorgeous.

The flip-side is that it's neighbor will have a collapsing [mobile] home whose yard contains rusted cars and car-parts, a bathtub or toilet, wood pallets and piles; and other metal and wood debris piled to the sky and surrounding the entire "lawn".  Often this includes swing-sets commonly turned on their side and various other brightly colored plastic kids toys.  Sometimes you will see old school buses or trucks, abandoned, rusted and dead in their tracks on the side of their property or in an adjoining field.

The kicker is... often, next to the disheveled, garbage filled home and lawn, is a new immaculate 2 story garage....Go figure...

And, I almost forgot!  May 25th - Happy Birthday to me!

Here are some suggestions for your Day trip, somethings we learn the hard way!
Bug spray
Sunscreen
Sun-glasses
Gloves
Tool kit (we discovered our license plate was half off!)
Camera 
Cell phone 
Map or atlas - a physical one - don't rely on your GPS which will often try to take you on a dirt road that isn't part of the plan.
Scarf (optional)
Comb
Snacks
Blanket
Headlamp 
Spare reading or regular glasses (I wore contacts and my eyes were demon-colored by the time we arrived home)

West Rutland Art Park

W.R.A.P.

If you are traveling through the Rutland area, or live in Rutland County, treat yourself to a very quick and unique experience.  Take the road to Middletown Springs in West Rutland, and about only a mile or two down the road on the right, you will see a white figure with bright overalls that are all the colors of the rainbow.  It sits upon the hillside watching the cars go by.  

Go ahead, take the right turn immediately after him or her, sitting on the hill, and check out this wonderful little park that was the inspiration of one woman, and the reality of artists from around the world!   Sometimes it's nice to take  a little culture break!

You can visit their website by clicking here. 

There are links to the artists websites, respectfully.  

 And here is a link to the blog, to learn more. 

"HOPE"

Artist: Ayla Turan  (Turkey) 

"VENUS"  
Vermont White Marble -
Artist: Filin Gheorgui (Italy)   

"Bridge of Winds"
Vermont White Marble
Artist: Nando Alvarez (Spain)   

 "DANCE"  Vermont White Marble
Artist:  Liliya Pobornikova, (Bulgaria) 

"Across Time and Space"
Vermont Found Steel
Artist:  Guohua Xu, (China)  

"OPEN DISK 5"
Painted Steel
Artist:  Xuxo (Spain)

"Spirit of the Green Mountains" (Vermont Verde Antique)
Artist: Jo Kley (Germany)