All posts by Helen C

Solstice, Summer

Sun shine out strong

Solstice Festival Stage, June 2005

The sun came through just before we gathered for the opening of the 2005 Revels North Summer Solstice Festival. It was brilliant.

We spent most of the day watching the skies — the sun would break out from time to time and then showers would sweep in again. It was beginning to look as though we would be celebrating in the Marion Cross School gymnasium. But by 5 PM, blue sky and wispy clouds moved in from the north west and we had a beautiful clear evening ahead of us. The three-quarter moon rose between the tall pine trees to the east of the festival site at about 7 PM.

The festival began with a small parade that included the most amazing butterfly puppets I have ever seen. I had to search my mind for the word “puppets” to describe them and it does not do them justice. Unfortunately I did not get a photograph of them in daylight. I have a couple of night shots when they returned lit up for the last song of the concert. They were created by the utterly fabulous Gabriel Q of White River Junction.

After a brief introductory song and dance, the chorus spread out among the festival-goers and participated in the many activities. Many worked as behind the scenes volunteers serving food or helping at the popular silk scarf painting booth, while others participated in Dan Hertzler’s excellent shape note singing school and contradance workshops run by the Green Mountain and Maple Leaf Morris teams. There were other activities, too numerous to mention.

At dusk, the concert began with a short dance performance choreographed by Carol Langstaff, the founder of Revels North. I can’t objectively describe the concert program because I was singing in it, but it was a pleasure to sing and worth the time dedicated to rehearsing over the past three months.

The evening closed with a circle dance to the tune “O How Lovely Is the Evening.” Or at least it closed for the audience. The revelers in the chorus and working “backstage” spent the next hour clearing up the site before relaxing at the cast party.

Spring

Morning On the Ottauquechee

Ottauquechee River during ice-out, April 2005

We live across the street from the Ottauquechee River. It’s a popular trout-fishing spot and several fishing guides lead their charges to it during spring, summer and fall. We watch them park across the street; friends know they can park in our driveway.

One of the guides, Marty Banak of \Wilderness Trails, has beaten a path through the brush down to the water’s edge. I’m leery of the brush. Our first summer here I developed a whopping case of poison ivy after a walk down there.

During the summer, you can barely see the river from our front porch, but you can hear it. During the winter, it is quite visible. But it is silent. We always know spring has truly arrived the first night we lie in bed and can hear the rush of the waters after ice-out.