I certainly have stable housing on wages I earn here, but I know that’s not the reality for a lot of people. And my parents died when I was young, there was no trust fund or ANY money from that. Many people in the medical and technology sector or other fields have jobs that require them to work outside the home and, if they live a reasonable lifestyle, can make things work here. I have friends who own their own business and shops that are doing ok. But again, most of us acquired our housing before the pandemic. It’s a different situation now for people looking.

We live in Barre City. There are a lot of jobs in Vermont, but pay is usually on the low side. Depending on your career path and life style, you can make Vermont work. If you want to live in Stowe, Montpelier or Chittenden County, you will pay a lot more for housing. As for crime, I’ve lived all over the country and Vermont has less crime than any other state I have lived in. I will never leave Vermont. It’s not perfect, but it has all the right ingredients to make a good life.

I’ve got studded tires, 180 lbs of sand in the truck bed and a 4x4 Tacoma and you will definitely see me driving slow on the roads. When my daughter was 16 she hydroplaned on a road, and hit and killed a new mother with a 4 month old baby in the car. She wasn’t driving over the speed limit, but she was driving faster than conditions allow. Let that sink in. Your 16 year old daughter killed a new mother. Now slow the fuck down people. And hug your kids.

https://vtdigger.org/2023/02/27/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player/. This should not be funded using our tax dollars.

Barre is fine. It’s actually a pretty sweet place to live.

Actually I moved to Barre. No need for any concern.

Born in Rutland. Moved as a kid. Came back after living all over the country. There is no place else I will ever live. My mom, who was not from Vermont, always told me I was a Vermonter. That stuck with me all my life so if you say I’m not a native you’re calling my mom a liar and those are fighting words!

Rise Up Bakery in Barre offers sourdough bread classes. They make incredible bread!

If hunters consistently allow their dogs to enter posted private property, do what I do. Put bowls of dog food out in your fields. Bear hunters hate it when you feed their dogs, who they intentionally keep underfed.

Central Vermont is full on mud season.

Vermont is a very eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary life snuggled into the crooks and crannies of the Green Mountains and along the shore of Lake Champlain. About 60 % of our roads are not paved, and at the end of winter or during thaw cycles your vehicle can literally get stuck for days. Vermonters are good neighbors, but like their privacy. Vermont has a lot of land based economies, agriculture, outdoor recreation, and in the Northeast Kingdom timber management. So many of us work the land or work with people who work the land. We are more impressed with your 15 year old flannel shirt than your new Gucci handbag. (And yes, a woman in flannel, Carhartts and muck boots is a damn attractive sight!) Vermont has a strong conservation ethic, and most people support sustainable land use practices. We are inundated with tourists and that’s understandable, but we also have all the problems the rest of the country has. But, the people here are the best asset in the state. There is a very strong sense of community. Every year we have Town Meeting Day, where the 80 year old dairy farmer sits down next to the young GLBTQ orange haired tattooed Co-op employee and determine how much money the town is going to spend on road grading this year. It’s a pretty special place.

You are correct about the 2020 Supreme Court decision protecting GLBTQ citizens from being fired. I had forgotten about that. I do know hundred of laws have been and are targeting trans people and the GLBTQ community regarding education. And I strongly disagree that education should not be about history, cultural groups and civil discourse. Education is not only about training workers. It’s teaching about teaching people how we as a society got to where we are and how we can address the serious social, environmental and economic issues that we face today.

In over 20 states in the US GLBTQ people can still be fired, lose their housing and health care for being gay. Every single one of those states is run by Republicans. Over 300 laws are being proposed in Republican states to deny trans citizens health care and access to gender affirming g treatment. Education is under attack that addresses systemic racism and minority representation. Educate yourself.

Ice dams can form on roofs. They can cause serious interior flooding damage. I speak from experience. My older (1880) house had multiple eaves and levels and I had a waterfall come into my kitchen one evening due to an ice dam. Shoveling snow prevents them from forming.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/fbi-arrest-two-including-neo-nazi-leader-plot-attack-baltimore-grid-2023-02-06/. There is this, it addresses one thwarted plan.

I have a friend in the federal government (a law enforcement division) who currently works out West. Of course he can’t discuss much, but he has commented that the situation is much worse than the public realizes. He has concerns that we are in a long term situation that will deteriorate much sooner than any of us realize. I hope he is wrong, but he is not prone to exaggeration.

Similar to the domestic terrorists who are shooting and trying to destroy our power grid.

Thanks! You taught me something new, I appreciate that.

Not sure how long a time or how primitive you are looking for. But we rent a rustic cabin from https://vermonthuts.org/ in the NEK. It’s rustic but super nice.

I’ve heard it many times. My career was as a field going staff of the Forest Service and I also worked for years in the Adirondacks. You get the weirdest looks chopping up frozen beaver carcasses along the side of the road when your conducting fisher research, but I digress. In decades of research in the Forest year round, I’ve never heard of trees exploding from cold, but I’ve heard the very loud popping. So that’s a new one for me.

Trees emit loud pops when it’s very cold outside. I’ve never heard of one exploding, just the loud popping can be surprising.

Thanks! I went to Bolton and had a blast! Definitely going back next week. They have $39 lift tickets. I took a lesson, did 4 runs on a few green trails and am hooked!

I live in Vermont but grew up in North Carolina. We drank moonshine and smoked weed while partying in the woods with bonfires. I think you are describing a lot of rural America here!

Red Fox have “dainty” footprints in a straight line. The front footprint is wide compared to the more pointed hind paw. If snow is shallow or firm the prints will only show portions of toes and heel pads. Your photo looks as if these are not fresh prints. Did you notice a musky, skunky odor in the vicinity? Red Fox urine has an odor similar to skunk. I’d guess it’s a red or possibly gray fox. But tracking is tricky, and identifying tracks from a photo is even more so.BTW I get my information from a tracking class I took at North Branch Nature Center as well as from Peterson’s Animal Tracks Field Guide. Both great resources you should check out!

Definitely canid. Were the tracks in a straight line ( direct register) or more off center? Was the human footprint yours or was it there? That could indicate a small dog.