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Vermont in Winter

You’re not going to believe this, but last week I jumped on a Delta buddy pass and headed for Burlington, Vermont for a quick overnight visit. Now you would think that someone would possibly pick another time of the year to go to Vermont. In fact the last time I looked on the Weather Channel, they were digging out of a “new” eleven inches of “fresh” snow. I did go however, and it was a great trip, and I met some very fine people, and accomplished my mission. And what was the “mission” you might add? The mission was to go see a British Ferret! Again you might say “I thought there were “plenty of pet shops” in Atlanta, and you would be right. Or you might say, “I didn’t know Ferrets were British?? Both lines of reasoning would be “correct” but wrong. I didn’t go to see a “live Ferret” but one with a lot of armor on it, kinda like an armadillo. Stay with me there is a point to all of this pet talk.

The armor part is that it is an “armored car” and the “British” part is that it was made for the British Forces following WWII. This vehicle was dubbed the “field mouse” because it scurried around the battle field to find the opposing forces and would report back the positions and strength of the enemy. These four wheeled armored vehicles are used in over sixty countries around the world and even police forces here in the US. They were also used in Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The fun part of these vehicles is that they are “street legal” and sport a six-cylinder Rolls Royce engine.

What in the world would one do with such an animal? A lot of fun trips for sure!! How about driving to Taco Bell in an armored car and request fast service? Or maybe Alan Vigil Ford and sign up for a free oil change? The opportunities are endless. Or how about driving into a parishioner’s driveway and knocking on the door and telling them that you are the new “tithe & Ferret finance committee.” The list is long and you would only be limited by your imagination, and your willingness to crank it up!

The best part of the trip was not seeing the Ferret, but meeting several “Vermonters” face to face. As you know this is not a very large state but a very patriotic one. I was told by the very fine people at my Bed and Breakfast farmhouse, that the “Vermonters” were the first state to provide a militia to fight for the Union cause in the Civil War. They were the “Green Mountain Boys” and fought very bravely. I would love to print the names of my friends here but didn’t have time to get permission to do so.

The Bed and Breakfast where I stayed was in the rolling mountains similar to the mountains in North Georgia. There was about six inches of beautiful snow everywhere and the warmth of the couple who owned the Bed and Breakfast and the warmth of their home was very comforting.

As I got to the farmhouse, the lady of the couple asked me if I wanted breakfast the next morning. Saying “yes” to that question was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. When she asked me about breakfast, I thought I heard her say, “we will be having baked pancakes, if that is all right with you.” I nodded “yes,” not really knowing what “baked” pancakes were.

I got up early to the smell of fresh coffee and an even newer snow of about four inches over night. As I went down stairs to breakfast, I noticed she was stirring up what seemed to me a regular batch of pancake batter. She then put it into a large baking dish and put it into the oven. We talked for a while and she finally pulled it out of the oven and it was a large round, hollow pancake that looked like a fluffy large Taco salad shell, the kind where you eat the shell as your salad bowl! Stay with me this has a great ending! She then cut fresh strawberries and had homemade butter. Now for the best part. They brought out their homemade maple syrup.

Now being a “visitor from Georgia” I was trying to make good conversation with these lovely people when I said, “is this syrup local?” The man of the house laughed out loud and said “this syrup is about as local as you can get; it is from our trees in our yard.”  This gave me great joy to still see original farming going on as it had for centuries. We then got into a great discussion of how in the old days whole families would go out in the snow and gather the syrup. Now it sadly is done by long connections of PVC pipe laid to central locations where one or two workers can go to the central locations and gather it in a much less shorter time.

I print this to remind us all that no matter in what circumstance we find ourselves, you can jump on a plane and in a few short hours can be gathering syrup in Vermont with some wonderful people. Praise the Lord; He is good, His mercies are everlasting. While we are enjoying Vermont in winter, and homemade maple syrup, we must never forget “the green Mountain Boys” and our “Georgia men and women” serving in Baghdad and the Middle East today so we can enjoy the freedoms we cherish so.

Don’t forget our New Church Dedication Sunday the 13th of March, followed by a Church BBQ with Southern Gospel Music. Brig a crowd but please call for a food head count! 770-719-2365  

OUR NEW CHURCH IS 100% FINISHED.  COME SEE!!

Check out our Church website at: www.hishousecommunitychurch.com

Check out our New God and Country Outreach Website at: www.ddaytravelingmuseum.com.