The Northeast Kingdom

I live in the Northeast Kingdom - that will mean plenty to my local readers, but to those of you on the eastern side of the Pond, it will mean little. You probably will have never heard of it. Let me explain. The Northeast Kingdom is the name given to three counties, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex, in the far northeast of Vermont on the Canadian border. The name was first used in a 1949 speech given by the then U.S. senator and former Governor of Vermont, George D. Aiken. The Kingdom is bound in the east by the Connecticut River and the west by the Green Mountains. The main towns are St Johnsbury and Lyndonville in the southeast, Newport and Derby in the north, and in the southwest Danville and Hardwick. 

Known affectionately by locals as The Kingdom, the region lies outside the state's Green Mountain area, and is made up of a number of extinct volcanic islands that were compressed together by tectonic movement more than 400 million years ago. A sheet of ice over a mile thick covered the Kingdom several times during the Ice Age, which ended some 13,500 years ago. The retreating glaciers carved out the piles of granite, schist, slate and limestone to leave behind today's rock-scattered landscape. Some 80% of the Northeast Kingdom is covered by forest; a mixture of 60% northern hardwood (Sugar maple, Yellow birch, American beech and White ash), with spruce, hemlock and fir making up the rest. The brilliant colors of the leaves during Fall make this a popular tourist destination.

There is a relatively high moose population, along with white tailed deer, black bear, coyote, fox, bobcat, some Canadian lynx, and even some once locally-extinct marten. Smaller species include red and gray squirrel, and groundhog or woodchuck, muskrat, skunk, opossum, snowshoe hare, beaver, porcupine, raccoon and the small and adorable chipmunk. There have been reports in the past few years of the grey wolf being seen - this is certainly possible judging by the reports although experts say not probable.

     

The climate here is fairly predictable. Winter extends from November through to April, with the temperature often remaining below zero for weeks on end. The lowest temperature that I recorded last winter was -35˚ F (-37˚ C) - at the time colder than Alaska. .At the other extreme yesterday's high was +97˚ F (+36˚ F) after a full week of being in the 90s. There is plenty of snow in winter, with it often lying on the ground for months on end. A number of blizzards have produced more than 20 inches of snow overnight.

I have noticed that there is plenty of French influence in the region, which is not surprising as it borders French-speaking Quebec Province to the North. Many of the surnames in the region are quite obviously of French origin and in summertime and Fall you can see plenty of Quebec Province cars on the Kingdom roads and hear French being spoken by couples in the region's supermarkets.

I've been in the Great North Woods for four years now, the last year and a half up here in the Northeast Kingdom. I can understand why many of the older residents who can afford it migrate down to Florida with the onset of winter. I am too old to take up my once youthful passion of skiing - major spine surgery a couple of times has seen to that. So I will see out my days here with my beautiful wife and close to my daughter and three grandchildren, all of whom I love dearly. Were it not for them Liz and I would be living in the warmer climes of North Carolina. Next month Liz and I will drive down to Massachusetts for her birthday and to stay with her daughter and family. 

Snow time

I arrived in the North Country after the last of the previous winter's snows had fallen. Cherry trees were in blossom in the suburbs of Boston, but the oaks, the birches, the beech trees and the maples were yet to receive their Spring foliage. There was still snow on the mountain-tops, and even a still-frozen waterfall by the side of the road at Kinsman Notch. I remarked that I had not seen snow close up for more than 42 years, only to be told that I should not worry as I would see plenty within the following 12 months.

The first snow of this winter just happened to fall on November 14th, the day Liz and I moved from the minuscule apartment we had occupied since my arrival on May 1st. At the time of writing, more than 2 months later, it is still lying on the ground. I recall following New Hampshire's weather last year while still in the Eastern Cape, and remember that the daytime temperature had hardly risen above freezing for more than 3 months. Well, I can now tell you that apart from a period of about 4 or 5 days, the daytime temperature has remained below freezing since that first snow of winter fell, and as I write, it has actually risen as far as freezing point before falling again as the sun goes down.

Not having seen snow close up for several decades, I had forgotten what it looked like. The last time I can recall was at Christmastime 1969 or 1970 in when a group of naval aviators and Wrens spent time in a rented chalet in Kitzbuhel, Austria, on a skiing vacation. I can clearly remember seeing ice crystals forming in mid-air while on the slopes - I witnessed the same here a few days ago too. On that particular day it was 20 below in the North Country - that's -30˚C for those of you who no longer use the Fahrenheit scale. What I had forgotten was how the snow sparkles like diamonds in the sunlight, particularly when temperatures are well below freezing. Back in the 60's and 70's there were no smart phones of course, and it would have been difficult to capture such shots as these while strapped to a pair of skis.

Liz and I are very Nature oriented. One of the reasons that we chose our last several places of residence was that each was "out in the countryside". Our first "joint" venture was a rented cottage in Blue Hills in Midrand. Then, on my retirement, we bought the farm in Martindale in the Eastern Cape. Then Liz found that rented apartment in Bath - on the edge of the forest and visited by squirrels, a friendly chipmunk and even once by a skunk. Now we are once more on the edge of a forest. We rarely see as many animals because of the snow, but it is clear from the fresh tracks in the snow that they have been in the yard during the night. I did see a white tailed deer the other day, picking her way through the fallen trees just a few yards away.