As Vermont Goes...

The road below Barbara Carter and Steve Zind's

Safely tucked away in the interior of West Virginia, I was more concerned about Irene than the people in D.C. and Virginia facing what appeared to be an onslaught. I watched the weather incessantly and called with lists of things that needed to be done: charge cell phones, get flashlights, make sure said flashlights had fresh batteries, get food for three days in case the power were to go out, have prescriptions close at hand, have some cash...

After all my calls one friend remarked that after all that preparation, nothing would happen. And they proved to be right... and then there was Vermont.

I hadn't given a thought to all my friends in Vermont. ironically, several days before Irene was scheduled to hit, I got an e-mail from Vermont inquiring as to my safety. I thought, as they did, that we were to far inland. West Virginia was unscathed but Vermont was screwed. All my friends were fine, but it was today before we were able to get info out and to see the devastation.

As with news cycles, hurricane clean up is now taking a back seat to the President's Jobs Speech. Call me old but back in the day -- like 2005 or so, if The President of the United States said jump, the Congress bitched and moaned but eventually said, "How High?" Because THE PRESIDENT, no matter how big a tool, is THE PRESIDENT. And frankly, we have had some real tools. And though I haven't always agreed with them or liked them, and even though I couldn't bear to watch some of them on the television, they were still The President of the United States.

Today we found out that no jobs were created last month. NO JOBS. None. People are scared. Business are scared. The country is broke. There is no confidence that anything can be done in Washington. Congress doesn't even have enough respect to let the President speak. People who want his job claim to be unemployed while scheduling an 12 million dollar beach property renovations or they insinuate that earthquakes and hurricanes are God's way of telling us she doesn't like Washington. It would seem that she doesn't really like Vermont or Texas for that matter.

Steve Zind sent out these pictures from Vermont.



This is was the newly paved road at the bottom of Thayer Road. It was one of the many roads washed away in Vermont.

This photo was entitled: Rush hour on Bethel Mt. Road. The heavy equipment in the background that is rebuilding the road belongs to neighbors who saw a problem and set out to fix it.


Rt 73 dropped into the White River south of Rochester, leaving the community cut off. For six hours, neighbors worked to construct a foot bridge so supplies could be walked in.


When people walked out to find internet and phone service, they weren't alone. They carried messages from friends and family.

The Inn in Rochester, like everyone else, had no power. They did have giant walk-in's filled with food, and so they cooked it and fed their community.

It might just be time for a change in Washington. I say let's draft Bernie Sanders.