Lucky, lucky to reading in such charming backroads Vermont places. Lucky to be driving with a companion who gets me there via google maps and keeps me company on the drive. I’ll read at The Norwich Bookstore tonight, that familiar trek down I-91, but this time turning at Exit 13, not east towards Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center but east towards the literary world. With deep satisfaction. (Book signing Saturday, July 18, at Phoenix Books in Burlington, 1-3pm)
A friend stops by and cautions me that thunderstorms and hail, maybe fire and brimstone are expected tonight. I laugh because, well, why not. There’s those cliches about life’s a journey and so on, reductive things for a bumper sticker or card, with of course a soul of truth. Early evening, I read under the butternut tree, sparrows chittering, a woodchuck grazing beneath the lilac hedge. I’ve been here before: such a gorgeous wild sprawling summer, and already the days are dampening at each end, just the merest. The neighbors drive up, cheery and sweaty from baseball, and agree yes, more sun, more summer. The woodchuck looks up, untroubled, and munches on. I think, I could get a dog. Or not.
A mosquito bites my big toe. Swifts dart above my head.
The present pushes back the life of regret.
It draws forward the life of desire. Soon memory
will have started sticking itself all over us.
We were fashioned from clay in a hurry,
poor throwing may mean it didn’t matter
to the makers if their pots cracked. — Galway Kinnell
Stony Soil Vermont 
Thanks, and all the best with the readings.
Thank you!
Hi Brett, It’s been a while since I was on WordPress. I was in St. Johnsbury library last week, and I saw you are scheduled to read there. Based on info on your blog, it appears you live nearby. My wife and I are thinking about St. J as a retirement option. The people we met there were wonderful. We went to a poetry reading and felt like we had new friends by the end of the evening. If you’re familiar with the town, could I ask you to please comment on the climate? It’s our biggest concern about moving there. Is it insanely cold there in the winter and everyone is stuck inside, or are people still able get out to hike, snowshoe, etc? Do you have a feel for how many months are snow free. We’re cyclists, and the Lamoille bike trail is appealing, but not if it’s covered with snow for 7 months. Any insight you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Jeff
Hi Jeff, St. Johnsbury is really quite nice. Yes, it can be very cold here. The folks who best survive do winter sports like snow shoeing or skiing. Good clothes are a must. The snow can come in November and last until end of April. The hardest part, I think, is the very short days when it’s dark at 4:30. Happy to answer more…. Drop me a line. brettstanciu@gmail.com. Good luck!!