Trying to keep up with Vermont
It’s the crazy neighbor that keeps things interesting. They’re the one that gets you looking out your front window to wonder what they’re up to.
Looking around our own state neighborhood, I think of Pennsylvania as the neighbor who will help you move furniture, the neighbor who will invite you over to their summer cookout.
New Jersey is the neighbor who leaves garbage pails out on the curb for a couple of days after trash pick-up. The neighbor that has loud parties and they don’t invite you.
Connecticut and Massachusetts are the neighbors with tidy, manicured yards. They get together to chat over their symmetrical hedge to discuss how much better the neighborhood would be without you in it. Maybe they could knock down your house and build a nice park there instead.
Then there’s Vermont, the neighbor who is already coming back from a morning run by the time you get out of bed. The neighbor who always has a kayak on the roof rack of the car (probably a Subaru). Maybe Vermont makes you think of rolling hills and dairy cows. Picturesque little towns with white church steeples reaching into a deep blue New England sky. Sure, there’s all that, but that might just be a cover.
The first inkling Vermont might be a little off came while hiking. In New York, you get used to seeing people in hiking boots. In Vermont, you get used to seeing people hike barefoot.
Then there came some more evidence. Ultrarunning — that is, races that are longer (repeat, longer) than a standard marathon (26.2 miles) — is popular with Vermonters. In fact, an ultrarunning magazine recently searched the residences of participants of “ultra” races and found one of the highest percentages came from one of our neighboring states. I’ll give you a hint: It starts with a “V” and is home to Ben and Jerry’s and probably the legendary sea-monster Champy.
Need more? Later this year, Vermont’s Stratton Mountain will host “29029 Everesting.” The number that makes up the event’s name is the elevation of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. In October, folks will congregate at Stratton Mountain and, over the course of 36 hours, attempt to climb Stratton Mountain 17 times because the combined elevation of all those attempts equals 29,029 feet.
The clincher came at a work event when a colleague’s husband casually mentioned he was headed to compete in the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival that starts Saturday.
You’re unlikely to see Dara Torres or Michael Phelps at the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival. Namely, because the festival is when the good people of Newport, Vt., cut racing lanes in the ice of frozen Lake Memphremagog. Then they have a swim meet.
The racers more or less follow “English Channel Rules,” which means wearing only a swimsuit, goggles and a swim cap. Before signing up for a race, you must demonstrate that you’ve been swimming in water 41 degrees or colder.
The impressive thing isn’t just that people will walk across a frozen lake and voluntarily swim in water similar to the closing scenes of “Titanic.” The impressive thing is the timing of the festival. Because, while it’s easy to find enthusiasm for winter in January, these last few weeks of winter can test the seasonal endurance of even winter lovers.
As great as skiing and snowshoeing can be, it’s easy to daydream about spring and taking the road bike off the trainer and out of the basement dungeon to ride in the fresh air. There’s an understandable temptation to Netf lix your way through the last few weeks of winter, to hibernate until the crocus bloom.
That’s the inspiring thing about the Lake Memphremagog swimmers. Because life is made up of the things you do, not the things you watch. Even if those things seem a little loony like jumping in a frozen lake or climbing the same mountain 17 times. It’s the reason why, next February, when they hold the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival you’ll find me ... well, probably skiing or snowshoeing or maybe having a beer with Pennsylvania. But still, we’ll offer a toast to you, Vermont. You certainly keep things interesting.