We’ve arrived. And so far, after one week, it’s everything we had imagined it could be and hoped it would be. North Bennington is a little village in the Vermont woods, with just a 175 year old coffee shop/deli/mini-mart store, a lawnmower service shop, a barber shop, and a very elegant dinner place. Oh, and there’s that little thing called Bennington College, which was founded in 1932 and has an incredible campus. Lucky kids.
The entire town is seemingly small enough to sit atop a sheet of plywood and be a decoration for a small scale train set at Christmas, if it weren’t life-size. And if you want more, you have to drive the 5-6 miles down to Bennington where the grocery stores, the old main street with shops and restaurants, and the galleries and museums are. It’s an easy drive, but it makes all the difference in the world being just a few miles up the road. It’s like being in the middle of nowhere while being surrounded by everything you need in life. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is incredibly friendly and nice here. Too nice, at first — it’s awfully strange for everyone you pass by, everywhere you go, to say hello. Walking down the street? The people in the cars that pass you wave at you. But after a week of being here, you rather enjoy it and you know you would miss it if it weren’t going on. When the sun goes down, it’s dead quiet outside and you can see the stars forever. It’s fantastic. Hearing booming car stereos and roaring motocycles that could raise the dead are now a thing of my past.
I have mapped out our morning 3-5 mile run on picturesque dirt roads by farms and horses, and I even ran into my buddy from high school at the store the first day we were here. (I knew he lived 20 minutes up the road, but what are the chances?)
We are currently renting a furnished condo, and soon we will begin searching for a small house to rent immediately outside of “downtown” North Bennington. Am hopeful for some space to garden, some room to stretch our legs a little more, and a woodstove to warm our bones by on these cold Vermont winter nights.
The beginning of the adventure is starting off on the right foot. Can’t wait to see what’s around the corner. Simple living, it’s what’s for life.
Hi!
I have been an avid reader of your posts since 2009, when I stumbled upon it while searching for something worth while to read. And worthwhile, it was! I have been reading every post you wrote since, and there were times I felt impatient because it took you some time to update your write-ups. Anyway, every wait was well worth the wait because I am always happy and satisfied with the snippets of your life you keep on sharing. I am also on my quest toward a simple life and I hope I could achieve a certain degree of success, just the way you have been successful with this endeavor.
I’ve just been following your posts for a few months. Where did you move from? Your new home in Vermont sounds heavenly. I live in a large metropolitan area and would love to be able to go outside at night and actually see more than a couple of planets and the moon. Keep us apprised of your new life!
Christian – I hope to write here more often in 2012!
Sherry – New Mexico, most lately. I have been moving around for years, but plan on staying put this time. 🙂
Hi Dave! Ill be looking forward to that. Hope you can post more pics of your new place, and your home.