I couldn鈥檛 write about this particular spring without thinking of it within the context of mythic proportions. In Greek mythology, we know the season as a moment of renewal and regrowth, because . Within other traditions, spring connects with .
However, we don鈥檛 need to turn to the mythic to understand the fertility of this moment: we are all making a transition away from COVID-19. With more people receiving the vaccine, the newness of the season is attached to the hope of reconnecting with people and community.
Every Vermont spring is filled with reversing the sugaring process through taking down lines from the maple trees at the end of a sugaring season. And whether one is waiting for five 50-degree nights to start a garden (the wisdom of Steven Pomige of White River Junction), or participating in Vermont鈥檚 Green Up Day, there is no question that this unique spring includes an additional layer of shifting, transitioning, adjusting, and coming out of a thaw on the road to re-opening.
Given all of this, I wanted to find out what a transition into spring meant within 2021, one year after the onset of the pandemic. More specifically: What were individuals looking forward to?
Consider the images and words from some of the individuals I鈥檝e talked to as the songs of spring in Vermont, across a range of perspectives within Bennington, Windham, and Windsor counties.
"We are eternal optimists"
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 realize that the processes we build up to for January and February, we have to reverse it all,鈥� says Doug Zecher, owner and operator of Havoc Hill Sugar House in East Dorset. Throughout the sugaring season, Doug works with his son, Kyle Zecher.
鈥淎ll sugar makers will tell you, we spend a lot of time cleaning, fixing, and repairing,鈥� Doug says. 鈥淎ll for a season that lasts maybe six weeks. Whether you have had a good year or bad year, the effort to clean up is still the same. I am basically out there cleaning knowing I鈥檝e had a miserable season. The price of syrup has gone down in bulk. I used to get $2.85 a pound 鈥� I now get about $2 a pound.鈥�
For Vermont sugar makers, the early days of spring are usually marked with Maple Open House Weekend at the end of March. But the Vermont Maple Sugar Markers鈥� Association had to cancel the event for the second year in a row due to COVID-19.
The first week of April, I called Havoc Hill and shared a laugh with Doug鈥檚 wife, Melissa Zecher, over being late, given that this marked the point in the season for the break-down of operations.
I bumped into an odd kind of luck with my phone call: I was secretly hoping to finally attend my first visit to a sugar house! Over the course of an hour, Doug Zecher educated me about the details behind what I call Vermont鈥檚 liquid gold 鈥� maple syrup. Along with taking down the lines from all of the trees, it also involves the process of cleaning off (also known as sugar sand) 鈥� what comes out of the process of boiling the sap. Doug describes it as 鈥渢hick, about the thickness of an egg shell,鈥� and said it can inhibit the heat, causing a poor boil in the process.
Doug started making maple syrup 40 years ago.
鈥淚 started out in a tiny backyard pan a neighbor gave me,鈥� he said. 鈥淔irst year I made 15 or 17 gallons鈥nd it just grew and grew. At our largest, we had about 5,000 taps here a couple of years ago.鈥�
A few weeks after my visit to Havoc Hill, I called Doug to ask him what he was looking forward to most.
鈥淎 return to normalcy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the sugaring industry, we are eternal optimists: We are farmers, and we are always hoping that Mother Nature will cooperate. And if we can get rid of COVID and Mother Nature cooperates, that鈥檚 all I can ask for. Of course, this year was a big disappointment in many ways, it has to be better. I am sure it will be, and I am optimistic about things on many fronts: No pandemic to worry about, and a good sugaring year. Hopefully the trees will have a good growing year, and provide ample sap for a better season.鈥�
"There is a sense of hope"
For some, the new path forward starts with getting vaccinated.
On Saturday, April 10, the day looked and felt like spring on the School for International Training Graduate Institute (SIT) campus. As I turned into a parking spot, I looked up for a few minutes, enjoying the clear blue sky -- I could not help but notice how green the grass was, without a spot of snow.
Cars of individuals and families came to campus in the morning and afternoon hours. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) of Windham County partnered with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) to provide morning and afternoon appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations.
鈥淏eing with family鈥� was the first thing that Aracelis Gonz谩lez said when asked about what she was looking forward to this spring. Gonz谩lezas, her daughter Kyanny Collazo, and her granddaughter Aaralyn Veleze awaited their turn for their vaccination in a big rooms within one of the main buildings on Fleisher Lane. They expressed being nervous, but stayed the course of waiting to get their shot.
Also receiving COVID-19 shots that day were Aaron Robert Dall, Anna Gail Llwag Caunca, and their two children.
For Anna, this moment is a mix of many things, including a chance for regaining a semblance of the normal.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know what to say about the pandemic,鈥� she said. 鈥� I feel like it鈥檚 been stressful. I am feeling tired and exhausted. With the vaccine, there is a sense of hope. But there is still that uncertainty too, because this isn鈥檛 necessarily going to fix everything. However, there is a sense that there鈥檚 going to be a shift and a change, just like a change in the season.鈥�
Aaron agreed, adding, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a progression. We鈥檙e all moving forward, and I hope as we do that, we can solidify our larger sense of community with this big international event. Hopefully there is some silver lining to all this struggle. Hope is the underlying thing, right?鈥�
Seeing people on the streets again in White River Junction
Communities, like individuals, are also looking at this spring as a possibility for reconnection.
My search for spring in Vermont brought me to White River Junction. While live Bluegrass tunes could be heard from the deck of South Main Street at Big Fatty鈥檚 BBQ, Lisa Ricci caught my attention as she was cleaning the flowerbeds outside of COVER Home Repair, Inc.
Lisa Ricci manages volunteers for COVER Home Repair. For more than 20 years, the nonprofit has focused on serving and repairing local homes: installing ADA access ramps, eliminating safety hazards, building new roofs.
In 2020, COVER Home Repair was planning for a large event that had to be canceled.
鈥淲hen COVID came, we鈥檇 spent months and months planning a spring event,鈥� Lisa said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 just sent out all the postcards, because we wanted to start planning early for this June event, and realized that this pandemic was going to be around for a while. Our summer was super weird. Our fall and winter were totally different.鈥�
This year, Lisa explains that before the home repair team had projects on the calendar for the spring, they were going out to food pantries and building high quality and custom shelves to help meet those pantries鈥� higher-than-usual demand.
鈥淭he home repair team is not going out as much as they normally would, so what鈥檚 a new way we can safely provide something for the community?鈥� Lisa said. 鈥淚t will be really nice to start going out to these projects in the community, not having to wear masks anymore, and it would be nice to have events here. In the near future, I am hoping we can look forward to a social event.鈥�
While I talked with Lisa and in between snapping photos, Steven Pomige and Bradley Mehr, residents of White River Junction, joined the conversation on their way to a cocktail party that night. This moment reminded me of prior to the pandemic and impromptu sidewalk conversations on spring and summer days.
Steven and Bradley moved to White River Junction two and half years ago from Boston. 鈥淚 am looking forward to seeing everybody back out on the streets,鈥� Steven said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been so quiet because of COVID. We have restaurants, people are going to be able to hear music over at Big Fatty鈥檚.鈥�
Greening up in Putney
Vermont has a history of coming together to prepare for spring. , was started in 1970 and takes place annually on the first Saturday in May. As we all faced the pandemic in 2020, it was also the 50th anniversary of Green Up in Vermont, which at that point reported the success of having cleaned up to volunteers all over the state.
I met Putney resident Greenough Nowakoski and Magdaline Volaitis of Dummerston on Saturday, May 1, as they pulled into the Putney town office parking lot to get their bags for Green Up Day. The ritual here is that an individual grabs a bag provided by the town 鈥� in other places, they may be other locations that are announced 鈥� and then pick a spot in Putney where they want to clean. Then they bring back their trash to discard.
I followed Magdaline and Greenough along Route 5, the entrance to Interstate 91 on our right. Their main focus was on the expanse of green to our left, a spot easy to ignore as one is leaving the Putney Food Coop.
For Magdaline, this is an annual family ritual that she has done for about 15 years.
鈥淓very year, round up the kids and a couple of families, do it together and just have a good time 鈥� that鈥檚 what we do,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e pick up for all the people who either can鈥檛, or the wind blows stuff around, or whatever reason. A lot of times, it鈥檚 people just throwing garbage out. Who wants to look at it?鈥�
Magdaline interrupted herself when she saw a bottle shining nearby, walked over and picked it up.
She said Green Up Day is just one marker of spring 鈥� she also enjoys the rhythm of growth and seeing the leaves return to the trees.
Greenough, too, said birds nesting and having babies is something to look forward to at this time of year. As for Green Up Day, that鈥檚 not seasonal, but a daily practice.
鈥淚 pick up trash all year round,鈥� Greenough said. 鈥淚f I am on the sides of the road, and I have a bag 鈥� I always put a bag in my car. Vermont is noticeably cleaner thanks to Green Up Day than some of our neighboring states, where I鈥檝e walked on roads too. Green Up Day really does a good job.鈥�
Music at the farmers market
May 1 also happened to be the opening of the Brattleboro Area Farmers鈥� Market. Last year when the pandemic hit, the farmers
As the sounds of Amy Cann, Andy Davis and Laurie Indenbaum playing violins and an accordion floated across the space, I thought of the famous line often quoted : 鈥淲ill there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.鈥�
However, Vermonters in the midst of blooming and becoming within the season of renewal, against the backdrop of still dealing with the pandemic, have their own twist on this quote, something more like: 鈥淵es, there will be doing, singing, communing, and maybe some sugaring, too, because we must.鈥�
For the three musicians, I asked what they looked forward to this spring. It was one simple answer: 鈥淒oing this.鈥�
Have questions, comments or tips? or tweet us.
We've closed our comments. Read about ways to
