We are in a period of extremely high stress, anxiety and social change. There is no easy finger-pointing.

Yes, many out of staters have moved in. Many do not understand the local culture, think nothing of dropping $350,000 on a house (because that's a deal where they came from), and expect town, school, and other services to be what they were used to 'elsewhere.' The influx has raised housing prices and put pressure on Town boards to enact 'messy yard' ordinances and engage in expensive infrastructure projects. They dont understand that dirt roads should not be plowed in November with three inches of snow, or that schools are not free day care services and year-round entertainment venues.

On the other hand, my line of work means that I deal with dozens of foodshelves and volunteer-based social agencies: people offering their hearts and time to help those around us. And it's not unusual to find them staffed with people who moved here "from away." They have become the bedrock of many communities, and keep them functioning. Good People, even though they weren't born here. Vermonters in spirit, heart, and action.

50% of Vermonters today were born out of state. Many have adopted a Vermont way of life - some, even more so than those who are here merely as a geographic accident of birth. It has created a unique society of "Farmers with PhDs."

Yeah, I heat with wood that I split myself, hunt, help my first-time-shepherd-neighbor birth her lambs this past spring, grow all my own food, volunteer at local charities, know the best naked swimming holes, share our eggs with the neighbors in return for their hearing my rooster at 5 am, pull people out of ditches, tap 100 maple trees, raise bees, attend congregate senior meals at local churches, and do all the things that many would consider "Vermonty." And I was born in NYC.