When in Vermont
Last Sunday we took a much-needed family stay-cation to Brattleboro for a ski jump competition. We chose the destination because it's been a stopping point for many Olympians, and, in the forties, for the Big Guy's dad.
The temperature was brisk, and the sun was out. Food vendors and tailgaiters created delicious grilled odors that bouyed the four of us on our climb up the 150+ snowy steps that lined the jump hill.
Twenty feet of snow-covered hillside and path separated the top of the stairs from the wall that bordered the jump area. We staked out a spot just below the jump-off just as the first round of jumpers whooshed past us.
Seven-year-old Thing2 watched a few jumpers and then, his awe subsiding, focused on the consistency of the snow and it's suitability for sliding and ammunition.
The first round ended, and he began begging for permission to slide down the massive hill next to the steps. Noting the abundant opportunities the hill afforded for an impromptu ambulance ride, I naturally said, 'No'. Thing2 pouted, but kept his silence.
The loudspeaker announced a break in the action, and we decided to move to a lower part of the hill for a different view of the action. The Big Guy and I began navigating down the hill towards the stairs. Half-way down, I turned around to offer a hand to Thing2. Still standing at the wall, he grinned at me.
"Mom, I want to slide down here!"
I hesitated for a minute and scanned his intended course for any objet d'injury. Noting the incline leveled enough near the bottom for him to stop himself, gave my permission. Thing2 sat on his snowpant-covered butt and slid.
"You are a true Vermonter," I told him as he coasted to a stop at my feet. He is.
Despite the Big Guy's deep roots in Vermont (from his father back to a time before "Vermont" existed) and Thing1's maple syrup-steeped childhood, Thing2 is the only "real" Vermonter among us (I'm a recovering nomad). Local tradition confers the label only on those born in-state. The smile on his face as he sat in the snow, however, proved his status better than any birth certificate.
The path had been packed down, and Thing2 decided it was another slower sliding opportunity. I inched along behind him, keenly aware of the aging tread on my boot.
Finally, the eternal adventurer in me decided that since we were in Vermont, I should do as my native-Vermonter had just done. The slippery path was much more easily negotiated on my butt. The path from nomad to settled Vermonter is one Thing2 will be showing me how to navigate for some time.