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Posts tagged as:
portraits
Mike was one of my oldest and dearest friends, going back to undergraduate days at the University of Vermont. He passed away December 10, 2017, some thirty years after a diving accident left him a quadriplegic. But he hardly missed a beat, and continued to live a rich and full life in the midst of a wonderful community of friends and family, all the while writing and playing music and teaching at East Carolina University. You can hear him talk about his life in an interview from 2010 with Mark Helpsmeet of Northern Spirit Radio here.
A song we wrote, Lonely Surfer Boy from Vermont – recorded by the Ultra Brothers here, (turn it up! and try it in mono) – had some legs but, uh, never cracked the Billboard charts.
I hope you’re enjoying the Celestial Music, my friend. We miss you here.
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Probably taken on Ektachrome film, in the Whipple Hollow section of town when I was 18 years old. This is one image that has stood the test of time for me; I’ve thought of it often over the years. I also thought it lost – forever consigned to memory – until it showed up in the archives one day this past winter. It remains compelling, and certainly equal to what I remembered (which is not always the case).
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Howard and his wife Lisa are the co-owners of High Meadows Farm, the oldest certified organic farm in VT. They have been farming this land (and using the front porch, see below) since purchasing the property in 1979. This photo was taken in the farmhouse kitchen, a large open room with a big old cast iron Jotul wood stove keeping things warm.
He’s a pretty amusing and articulate guy, and the subject of a great interview by Chris Blanchard in a recent “Farmer to Farmer Podcast” here. See also my PUBLICATIONS page (tab above) and the article on the Brattleboro Area Farmer’s Market.
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Earl’s family first settled this place in 1868, making him the fifth generation to work the land. The oxen are Red and Rock; Red (horns up) is a milking Devon, and Rock (horns out straight) is a beef Devon. They’re both about 7 years old, and just coming into their prime.
This stop at the watering hole is the prelude to their work day, which might encompass some six hours of logging, the oxen mostly on standby.
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These alpacas lived up the road from us for awhile, and it always a pleasure to drive by, and see what they were up to.
“Shearing Day” is a springtime ritual for sheep, llamas, and alpacas throughout the land; a time when thick protective winter coats are removed – for their health and our commerce.
These gentle and exotic creatures seemed to tolerate the process quite well, thanks in no small part part to the incredibly talented shearers on site that day. A significant part of their job seemed to be keeping the stress level on the animals to a minimum – stylin’ all the while.
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Went out for a walk during the recent snowstorm, right at dusk, and found our neighbor Paul getting a jump on the cleanup. The rest of the walk (normally an easy stroll) was like being in the wintry wilds of northern New England: howling wind, biting cold, icy footing, and no other soul about.
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