Ellen Stimson - Mud Season: How One Womans Dream of Moving to Vermont, Raising Children, Chickens and Sheep, and Running the Old Country Store Pretty Much Led to One Calamity After Another

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stimson, Ellen
Mud season / Ellen Stimson.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-581-57204-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Stimson, EllenFamily. 2. VermontBiography. 3. VermontSocial life and customs21st centuryAnecdotes. 4. Vermont Social life and customs21st centuryHumor. I. Title.

CT275.S755A3 2013
974.3044092dc23
[B]

ISBN 978-1-581-57692-4 (e-book)
ISBN 978-1-58157-261-2 (pbk.)

The Countryman Press
www.countrymanpress.com

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com

UD SEASON is a period in late winter and early spring when dirt paths such as roads and hiking trails become muddy from melting snow and rain. When the muddy paths and roads are traveled over by wheels, they develop ruts. It is regarded in some northeastern states within the United States, like much of New England, as both a curse and a blessing, because, although it is generally a messy time of year, it is an interlude between the standard tourist seasons of summer (hiking), fall (leaf peeping), and winter (skiing).

Mud season occurs only in places where the ground freezes deeply in winter, is covered by snow, and thaws in spring. Dirt roads and paths become muddy because the deeply frozen ground thaws from the surface down as the air temperature warms above freezing. The snow melts, but the frozen lower layers of ground prevent water from percolating into the soil, so the surface layers of soil become saturated with water and turn to mud.

It is also characterized by giant puddles on the side of paved roads, from large piles of snow melting with no place to drain off to. Sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, and all other surfaces become a muddy mess. Clothing is etched with drops of muddy spray, boots are covered in a layer of mud and the backs of pantlegs display a telltale spray pattern. The mud droplets are stubborn and cannot be removed with normal laundering techniques.

(accessed June 20, 2013).

his is the mostly true account of a few seasons of our quirky Vermont life. But memory is a curious combination of events, feelings, and wishes. I figure my recollection is about 83 percent true. Maybe 78 percent in a couple of places.

My Uncle Winston always said that we should never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I took that advice to heart. My kids have always made it a habit of correcting little details in my storytelling tiny things, it has always seemed like. Well, this time they cant. Ive already said that it was only mostly true.

So there.

E LLEN S TIMSON
Dorset, Vermont

ou dont know me, so heres a few things youll probably need to know. Im a midwestern girl who has always been pretty luckysuccessful too. I dont say that as any sort of brag its context. The events of this book take place during the early days of my life in Vermont. As a good disclaimer might state, past performance does not predict future results.

If youve ever taken a kid to the beach or Disney World and had to explain, at the end of a long, happy, sunny day, that we cant always be on vacation, then you are one step ahead of me. My family and I thought it might be fun to make that actually happen living in one of those beautiful places where we vacationed and maybe making a living there, too.

We were half-right. Well, mostly half.

I love Vermont, and in some ways the more-worrying of our early days here made it all the clearer that there was no place quite like it. There is no more naturally beautiful place I have ever been, and I have been to a bunch of them. We never left. We still love it. But if you find yourself planning to move here, I maybe could offer you a couple of tips.

alling in love makes you do strange things. Maybe you only order a salad at dinner rather than the lobster drenched in butter that you actually wanted, or you start reading that pretentious novel youve owned for years but never thought anyone ever actually finished, after the love interest mentions that he really enjoyed it. There are cravings, too. I once drove to a grocery store in my bathrobe at 4:00 A.M. to get some purple candles for a breakfast date. Candles that I am pretty sure I forgot to light, and that I am completely certain the man on the other side of the table never noticed. And when you fall in love with a place Well, when that happens, you may do strange things on a slightly grander scale. Or anyway, thats how I apparently do it.

It all started as a simple, great date. I had been married to John for a while, and we had two little kids. One was so wild, he might as well have been raised by actual wolves. The other one woke up mid-conversation every morning. She would open her eyes and say, And then, beginning anew every day. Benjamin and Hannah would grow up to be caring, successful adults. At least, that was the plan. At the time, they were what you hear people euphemistically refer to as a handful. There was a lot of sleep deprivation back then, so great dates were few and far between. We were young, and broke a lot of the time. When we had the money and time, we also had kids who needed a fun diversion more than we did. Mostly we rummaged through purses and pockets to come up with enough change for dollar night at the movies. Sometimes we had cheeseburgers and chocolate malts on our front porch. There were plenty of carnival rides, homemade popsicles, and tent houses in the living room. We had a really terrific treehouse out back, and come summer we made ice cream by the barrelful. Kid-centered activities we had in abundance. Plenty of those. But, quiet candlelit dinners meandering adult conversation? Not so much.