That’s what we do. After each blizzard, flood, and hurricane, Vermonters pick up the pieces and start over. We have experienced some extreme weather this year. But, then, people don’t move to Vermont for the mild climate; they move here and stay here for what makes this state unique–an ethic of independence, creativity, hard work, and community. Oh yeah, and the jaw-dropping natural beauty.
We recently salvaged and reinvented a piece of furniture and it’s story seems like the perfect metaphor for Vermonters. With the flooding in June, Lake Champlain’s waters rose to unprecedented levels. When the waters receded, Tyler, a memeber of our staff, came upon an old barge hatch that had washed ashore. He walked the hulking piece of metal (weighing around 125 pounds and almost as large as he is) up the hill, down the sidewalk, and into our doors on Pine Street. Around the same time, we discovered a wheeled factory cart that, judging by its scarified surface, had probably been used to haul steel or bricks. Both pieces had most likely been dumped into the lake for filler a hundred or so years ago and forgotten.
Scraps of history, souvenirs of the flood…but what to do with them?
Make something new, of course.
Tyler at work.
As it is with people, time, hard work, and rough weather can make for some beautiful character.
And patina.
Metal & Light 