The Kingdom

The alpacas weren't the only fantastic part of our stay at the Underhill farm. The shearing day was a real family affair, as three of S's six sisters showed up to help.

These are four of nine children of a French-Canadian couple who lived on and harvested maple syrup from their sugarbush and additional extensive land in the far north of Vermont. When the shearing was over on S's farm, the youngest of the clan, C, spontaneously offered to take my visiting friend S and me to see where they all grew up, in that far northern, three-county region referred to as "the Kingdom."

After the incredible generosity her sister showed us, I don't know why I'm surprised, but I still can't quite believe the extent of C's enthusiasm in spending the entire afternoon of one of her rare days off driving two strangers around for about 5 hours. Here are S and C in front of the lovely Lake Memphremagog.

C and another of her sisters have recently purchased back the heart of the land that they grew up on (including the farmhouse and barn), which was sold by her parents about ten years ago. They mid-way through an enormous renovation project, converting the house into six separate apartments for rent...

...and with grand plans to turn the barn, silo, and adjacent structures into a wedding venue.

C also drove us up to Derby Line, the name of the American side of a town that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. The border didn't used to be such a big deal, but ever since 9/11, security concerns have transformed the area in some weird ways. For example, the town library, to the right of this frame, sits partly in the U.S. and partly in Canada. Now, the Canadian side doors have been blocked off, and townspeople who live on the Canadian side have to officially cross the border if they want to visit the library, and an American border patrol officer is permanently camped out at the country line, marked by the flowerpots below.

Luckily, the guy on duty that day was relaxed enough to agree to our request to take pictures with a foot in each country.

This feels like a pathetically inadequate description of a really lovely afternoon exploring a gorgeous landscape and unique culture. Hopefully you get the picture. Ha, ha.