S2E2 Justin Morrill, and a stretch to tie in to family.

(author's note):

written version has been edited from the podcast version for clarity. not that it is really any clearer...

So here we go so today the podcast welcome welcome. If you were listening to the last one and the way I introduced it was "I'm BigZig and this is the Moments That Last Podcast" and then I kind of laughed because one of my favorite podcasts that I listen to is put out by the Professional Photographers of America, the PPA. Their host, I can't remember his name, but the way he starts a podcast is just like that it's "My name is Bob Smith and this is..." so I tried to emulate that last time I thought it was funny. So I made myself laugh. But anyway, I AM BigZig and this IS The Moments That Last Podcast, Season 2 Episode 2.

In keeping with the overall theme, I was trying to maintain a theme of the month of family and then today's subtopic is Vermont history. I had done some research on this particular piece of Vermont history before I decided that this month was going to be family related. To be fair I probably should have stuck with my original plan and found something family related that I could use and then just done a little bit more research, but things being such that they are I'm gonna try to tie this in to family.

Strafford Green

Some of my travels with hospice bring me to the same places over and over again depending on what my schedule looks like. For example two weekends ago I was down in the Weathersfield Vermont area quite a bit. Three weeks ago when I was on shift and did all this stuff this research for this project I was up in the Stratford Vermont area and I'd been up there a couple times, and this time I had a little extra time on my hands.

Historic Marker

Here's some information of one of Stratford's most famous and prominent native sons, a gentleman by the name of Senator Justin Morrill. He was born April 14th, 1810 in Stratford Vermont the son of Mary Hunt Proctor and Nathaniel Morrill. His father Nathaniel was a farmer blacksmith and a militia leader who obtained attained the rank of colonel. Senator Morrill was born in 1810, so his dad was in the militia back in Revolutionary War times. Senator Morrill died December 28th, so it's kind of fitting that we're doing him now, which is one of the reasons I picked him. He died December 28th in 1898 so post-civil war.

He attended school in Strafford, Thetford Academy, and a school called Randolph Academy, which I didn't know there was such a thing. So this has prompted me to do try to dig a little bit more and find out about Randolph Academy. I grew up in the Randolph area and it may be the old name the old timey as the kids say the name for what's now part of Vermont College system or something, but when I graduated from there in 2003, it was Vermont Technical College and that may be Randolph Academy. I don't know stay tuned. He Senator Morrill worked as a merchants clerk in Stratford Vermont and in Portland, Maine. He he was partners in business with a gentleman Judge Jedediah Harris, and together they owned four stores throughout the state of Vermont. They were general stores, that kind of thing. Senator Morrill invested in several other business ventures as well. He was an investor in banking he was an investor in railroads, and he was investor in real estate. In late 1840 he was 30 years old not quite 31 years old. He was financially secure enough to retire. I'm gonna leave that right there: financially secure enough to retire at 31 years old, back in the mid 1800s.

He took up farming, gentleman farming as they called it, and he became active in the Whig Party. In 1854 he was elected to the US Congress as a Whig. It was during these times that the Whigs morphed into the Republican Party and this gentleman senator Justin moral was a founding member of the Republican Party in the United States of America.

Morrill's Tomb

He served on the Ways and Means Committee. I wasn't quite sure what that was, so I did some light digging and the Ways and Means Committee is responsible for tax writing, the committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, social security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, child support laws, foster care, adoption, and various other measures. The committee members are not permitted to serve on any other House committee unless granted a waiver. When he wasn't While he wasn't on the Ways and Means Committee he was also on a Joint Committee for Reconstruction. Keep in mind he this was all happening right after the American Civil War. So You know, we had this period of Reconstruction after the Civil War where it was I guess right around also the same time as the Industrial Revolution and we were trying to rebuild the country that had been torn apart. He helped draft the 14th Amendment, which is mostly remembered for addressing citizenship rights and equal protection under the law ratified in 1868 the 14th Amendment came right on the heels of the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in America, so he was Instrumental in in coming up with The drafting of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1866 he was elected to the US Senate as a Republican So he was in Congress 1854 is elected to Congress 1866 he was elected to the US Senate and he served nearly 31 years until his death at the at the time of death his 43 year 299 days of continual Congressional service was the longest in US history. In 1866, 43 years...just shy like two and a half months shy of 44 years of being in Congressional service was the longest in US history. Currently He ranks 31st. There have been 30 other people who have served longer than that since 1866.

So What does this have to do with family? I don't know. I really don't that's the thing. I think he and his wife had a couple children, I think one of them died young and another went on just to be continue the family business as a farmer. Perhaps his biggest contribution to America during his time in office was the Land-Grant College Act which was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. It was while he was a member of Congress; he hadn't yet become a senator from Vermont, but he was a member of Congress. The Land-Grant College Act established federal funding for higher education in every state.

To quote Senator Morrill, "This bill proposes to establish at least one college in every state upon a sure and perpetual foundation accessible to all but especially to sons of toil where all of needful science for the practical Advocations of life shall be taught where neither the higher graces of classical studies nor that militarily drill our country so greatly appreciates will be entirely ignored and where agriculture the foundation of all present and future prosperity may look for troops of earnest friends studying its similar and recondite economies and at last elevating it to that higher level where it may fearlessly invoke comparison with the most advanced standards of the world."

What? What? So it seems to me basically he's saying hey, we're gonna in perpetuity, so forever, we're gonna establish these Colleges at least one at least one in every state, where science will be taught, along with other things that you need to know in order to survive. The colleges will be accessible to everybody especially those who work hard. A second Land-Grant act in 1890, eight years later, targeted the former Confederate states and led to the creation of several historically black colleges and universities. He did that and that's pretty dang cool, and that's just this guy from Vermont. It's a little town in Vermont, Strafford, if you're not looking at this online if you're listening to the podcast I suggest that you hop over follow the links down in the links in the description. There should be a link hopefully if I get this to work, right? It's very small town. It's very picturesque, very quintessentially New England if you will, and he did all this stuff way back when. That's amazing, and I'm sitting here doing, doing, what AM I doing? What am I doing?

He's buried at Stratford Cemetery in Stratford Vermont less than half a mile from his home. You could actually walk there, and the walk is kind of neat if you were to do it. It takes you right through the middle of town, right past it the the green or the common, which is in front of the the church. His homestead the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Lo and behold it's the first one in the state of Vermont; it was the first such honorary designation in Vermont, the Justin Smith moral homestead.

The house is an outstanding example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis in the early 19th century. Senator Morrill used their architectural handbooks to design his dream house, adapting the forms and details to suit his own vision. It's closed during the winter, so don't rush up there now to go take a look at it. But if you're gonna be in this corner of the state Next year I Would plan to go look at it. I might go take a tour of it myself. I've driven past it many times It's right the road for me.

This is weird that I'm saying this because I'm 57 and certainly 12 year old me would not have said this and probably not even 28 year old me or maybe not even 35-36 year old me would have said this but I think it's important for families to explore the areas where they live, where they call home. That might be a little difficult these days as people don't typically live in one place for as long as we have in the past. I Think it's important for families, especially if you've got kids in the teens or maybe a little bit younger than that, to explore your area find out some stuff about the area that you live in and do it together. Don't just do it online, anybody can can sit on the couch and pop open a laptop or their phone or a tablet or some sort of device and do some investigating. I think it's more important to actually get out there and go outside and explore and walk the land if you can or walk the neighborhoods if it's safe and go into those buildings and see those kinds of things together as a family.

Morrill's Homestead

I have been really nostalgic lately about my family; there are things that we did as a family like when we went to the Bunker Hill Monument (again!). Even though this little history lesson about Senator Justin Morrill who was born in 1810 and died in 1898 isn't really directly tied to family.

So thank you very much for sticking around. We're on 22 minutes and next time we're going to be talking about hospice and family. This is one of those topics that I'm a little on the fence about talking about because not everybody wants to hear about hospice. But we're gonna do it anyway, just because we can and we'll see how that goes. So thank you very much for staying tuned I hope everybody has a great rest of the day and please remember to stay rooted stay connected and stay focused.

We'll see you again. Be well, bye everybody!

 

References:

Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, November 6). Justin S. Morrill. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_S._Morrill

United States House Committee on Ways and Means. (2022, August 9). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Ways_and_Means

Justin S. Morrill | American politician | Britannica. (n.d.). Www.britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Justin-S-Morrill

Senator Justin Morrill | State Historic Sites. (2016). Vermont.gov. https://historicsites.vermont.gov/justin-morrill

Welcome to the Friends of the Morrill Homestead. (2010, February 1). https://www.morrillhomestead.org/

S2E1 Family Photography

 S2E1 Family Photography

I'm Big Zig. Welcome to the Moments That Last podcast. Coming to you from my shed, although we've got a different view this time because I've turned around and I've made a little desk here out of an old piece of hardware.

So I'm just going to settle back in and let's get on. Today is what I'm going to call season two, episode one of my podcast, because I've kind of had a, not necessarily rebranding, but redirection, refocus, as I discussed in the last episode and today being December the 2nd, I think. Yep, December the 2nd.

So happy birthday to my friend, Pete, who I grew up with. Pete, if you're listening, which, why would you? This is ridiculous. Anyway, happy birthday to Pete.

So as I talked about in the last episode, each month is going to have a theme and each week's installment is also going to have a sub focus on that. And this month of December, the theme is family and the focus is zooming. I can't zoom in or out that way.

All right. So we're going to do the manual zoom because I feel like, yeah, there we go. Now you've got a big old stare on my face for those of you watching on the video.

So family and photography and how it relates to sports photography in my perception anyway. And so I'm going to give a little background with how photography started for me and how it ties into family and how it's kind of directly goes back to the reason I started taking pictures was family. Our youngest son was playing rec basketball at the time and I was co-coaching with one of the moms of teammates and she had a camera and she was taking pictures and it came to pass, you know, she would try to take pictures during the game.

And it came to pass that we had one game in particular that the team was, the opposing team was way above my ability to coach our team to any chance of victory. I don't have a lot of background in basketball and strategy and things like that. So I was just kind of, I was out of my element in that game.

And so she said to me, I'll coach this game. You try to take pictures, get kids lined up on the bench and take pictures. And I was like, okay, sure.

So having her camera in my hand was kind of neat because it reminded me of back when I was going to college, my third semester, I worked in kind of their audio visual department or graphics arts department, I guess. And I learned how to shoot on film and I learned how to develop black and white film. And that was kind of cool.

So having a camera back in my hand was kind of neat. So I took pictures and then, you know, it was back in the earlier days, earliest days of Facebook even. And so we were posting and things like that.

And then I was turned out, we would go to the games and I would spend more time taking pictures than I would coaching, which is probably better for the kids. And so eventually it just became that I was just, I would just take pictures and she would coach and at games and I would take pictures and it worked out well as far as I'm concerned. And it seems like the kids had fun too.

And then also at the time, there was a company in our town that was, they had a photo studio. I think they had a physical presence and they were also the family who did like team and individual shots for all of the rec teams. And I don't know if they were stressed out or maxed out or fed up or whatnot, but there was a time when their pictures and whatnot were great.

And then they stopped being great. They just were just kind of like, okay, kids stand here, click, click, click, and then get out, get out with your day and seemed all really rushed and not fun. Oh, my wife is outside now.

I don't know. She's probably wondering what I'm doing in the shed. Anyway.

So it became kind of my mission, I guess, to kind of fill their void. Some parents had asked me to take some pictures of their teams for rec because they didn't like the way that the other ones came out. And so I would go in and take pictures of some basketball teams and then eventually some spring teams and things like that.

And then it just kind of developed from there. One of my earliest paying customers was a family in town who asked me to take their family photos. And I had never done that before.

And we had a good time. It's a good family. And so I started doing families.

And then there was a time where one of the local daycare businesses had had some trouble with their photographer that year. So they asked me to come in because I knew one of the managers and her kids were athletes that I had been taking pictures of. And so I went and took pictures of them.

And that was kind of funny because I had little idea what I was doing. My wife had run a daycare, so she came along with me. And we got through it.

And the editing process was crazy. I don't know if it still exists to this day, but there was an online place where you could, not like SmugMug, but like SmugMug. It'll come to me.

And they had like these minor editing tools that you could use. And so I used those. And then that was the last time I worked for that group.

But it was good. I had some fun times. And then what really kind of sparked the whole sports photography as a side business, because I was still taking pictures of my kid playing and his teams and whatever teams happened to be there when he was playing.

And we would travel. And it wasn't long before that first person who had me use her camera, she upgraded her camera. So she sold me her smaller camera, which was just a Canon Rebel 6. And she sold me that and the lenses.

And so that's where I got started with that. And then the athletic director at our local high school, I guess I had taken pictures of one of his kids for the team and individual shots for Rec. And he liked the way they came out.

And his kid said that I was fun to work with and it was better than before. So this was like pre-COVID. It was like the spring of 2019, I want to say.

And so he asked me if I would consider working for the school and taking pictures for the school. And I said, well, let's give it a shot. Social media was just kind of up and coming at the time.

Schools were starting to use it to promote their teams and their schools and things like that. And so we worked out an agreement that I was going to be shooting varsity sports and team and individual shots with a focus on senior athletes. And that was great.

And then COVID hit and it wasn't so great anymore, but it was okay because that spring, the first spring of COVID, of course, we lost all sports. We didn't play any. But then when fall started up again, we did.

Oh yeah. And so with COVID spring and graduation, we were able to set up kind of a booth at the school and we had the kids would come in one at a time. They would put on their cap and gown and they would stand there with their diploma holder and take a picture.

And so senior pictures or graduation pictures that year were done like that. It was ridiculous. And we had families out in their cars on the football field and we had a graduation ceremony like that.

It was kind of surreal when I think back on it, but there were no sports. And then when fall hit, sports changed a little bit. Everybody had to wear masks.

There couldn't really be any spectators at the games, even if they were outdoors. Football went from contact football to flag football. And that was quite interesting, but I was allowed to be there to take pictures, which was fantastic because parents still got to see their kids somewhat in action, even though it was just moments.

It was just pictures that I took. My lenses weren't that great at the time, but I did the best I could. And I learned a lot during that time.

But it was nice to be able to provide some proof or some memories of their kids playing sports. And that morphed into winter. And for basketball, we didn't allow any spectators in our gym for basketball games, but I was allowed in because I was considered part of the school and part of the teams.

And so I was able to take pictures of kids during COVID playing basketball. And then in the spring time, things kind of relaxed a little. And I remember we were out there.

And so I was still able to use my photography, my sports photography specifically, as a way to kind of keep families able to share those memories. And then they could share pictures of their kids playing sports with family members who lived in places where they couldn't come because of travel restrictions and all that kind of thing. And I think it really helped develop a sense of community and support around me and my photography, as well as within the kids themselves, because social media was really blossoming back then in terms of things like Instagram.

And kids could really share pictures of themselves with their friends who couldn't be there to see them play. And I think that was kind of what really solidified it for me. It felt like I was really doing something and able to tie families together as best I could.

And then when kids were starting to come back and be able to be out at games and stuff again, I wanted to share these pictures with more than one person at a time. And what I did was there was one particular student who was kind of like the leader of the student section at games. And he would get people cheering and he would get people yelling.

And so I created an Instagram account that was based around the student section at our high school. And I asked him to please follow me on Instagram and then to share it so that the other students would follow it, so that I could post pictures during the games or shortly after the games or even before to kind of develop a little bit of hype. But I wouldn't have to share it with every student because I couldn't figure that part out at first and it was just really bogging me down.

So I created one and then they all could come to me and that worked out great. And that's been fantastic for the past, gosh, I think we're in our sixth year of that, fifth year, maybe sixth year. And it's fun because I'll post images there and the kids who are in the pictures will share it on their picture, on their accounts and across social media.

And so they can get it seen by by a wider audience and they can share it with their families who live far away. And so it's kind of, it's, it's kind of helps tie things together, which I think is great. We started doing, I started including families and fans in those pictures too.

And that's just, you know, there's of course the action that's happening on the court or on the field or in the rink. And that action is great. But for me also, there's all that stuff that's happening behind me as well.

There's the families, there's the drama of, you know, their son is at the foul line about to take a foul shot that could win the game and what's their expression like and what are they doing and what emotions are they going through? And so I try to tie things in to be able to connect to that as well. And so, you know, if somebody is lining up to take a foul shot, for example, I'll get a picture of them while they're going through their routine or they're starting to focus. But when they launched the ball, I think it's important to swing the camera around to the crowd because that's where, you know, you're going to get reactions from the crowd.

I have hundreds of pictures of balls going through a net, right? But I'm trying to get more pictures of families and their reactions and the fans and their friends because that's where some of the excitement lies too. So look forward this year to me trying to get a lot more pictures of that. And shooting family pictures, family group shots, it's such a pleasure because I already know them on one level at the games and I know their kids as athletes and it's nice to see them outside of a game environment and it's somewhat of a contrived situation.

You know, it's not their natural environment when we're shooting family shots because, you know, let's face it, most people don't like to have that sort of thing done and it's difficult for them to be on and perform in that kind of situation. It's nice, it's fun for me to see them in that situation. So that's been fun.

And then, you know, when it comes to athletes or even performers, because I've been able to take some pictures during some musicals or plays, some theatrical performance, performing arts kind of thing for the schools as well and in the community, it's nice to see family there, it's nice to see that support. And I want to start showcasing that a little bit more. When I was a kid, we really didn't have any of that.

You know, we had one gentleman who was the dad of one of my classmates and he was at seemingly, you know, I kind of see myself almost in his role because I'm at most home games regardless of the sport and it seems that this guy was at most games regardless of the sport. You know, he would be at our soccer games even though he didn't have any kids on the team, but then he would also see him at field hockey games where he did or basketball where he did and he was just always taking pictures. And this, of course, is back in the film days and it would be neat to sit, you know, to be able to sit down and just look at some of the pictures that made it because, you know, digitally now you can take 20 photos and if none of them come out, no big deal.

But back in the film days, of course, if you took 20 photos and none of them came out, well, what a waste of time and money that was. So I'm sure he's got some fantastic pictures of my age group, kids in that school, and probably younger as well. So now I feel like I have the opportunity to be able to capture those moments for kids and families that they'll be able to look back on and reminisce on.

And, you know, I think, I mean, I played soccer on a team two years of junior high and four years of high school. I have, I think, three pictures of myself playing soccer and I think they were all from this gentleman that I somehow got a hold of. But, you know, it's just, I'm glad to be able to take these pictures.

And whether or not anybody looks at them in a year, five years, ten years, that's okay. At least I was able to provide the opportunity for people to be able to do that. And I think that's important to me to be able to do.

And, you know, it's like I was saying, capturing families' reactions versus capturing what's happening on the court or the field or the rink is hard. So I try to balance it out. And I think there've been a few times where I've missed some pictures on the field of things happening because I was looking at the fans, but I got the fans' reaction to whatever was happening behind me.

And that's kind of cool too. So, you know, that's been fun. And one of the things that to tie it all in with family that's important is that our high school, our mascot, if you will, is a hurricane and it's historical thing here in our area.

And we have the saying at the school that once a hurricane, always a hurricane. And it's true. You know, kids come back years after graduation and come back and will show up at a practice for a sport that they played.

And they're welcomed right back in by the coaches. And they're happy to have the kids standing in practice. And some of them even work now as assistant coaches.

And it's nice to see that when we say once a hurricane, always a hurricane, that it actually does happen. And I know it happens as well in the performing arts arena. And I'm sure it happens in the academic side of the school, which I don't really have much involvement in yet.

So I don't, you know, I can't say for sure that it goes on because I've never seen it, but seeing how it applies everywhere else, I'm sure that it's happening inside the school too. And I think that's just fantastic. You know, we have alumni nights, we have anniversaries where if a certain team had won a state title or broken some record and it's an anniversary kind of year for that sort of thing, we celebrate it.

And, you know, during the games with special stuff, I'm just noticing that as I'm recording this in my video, my microphone is really far away. It's like, I can barely touch it. So I wonder if this video will come out at all.

And if it doesn't, that's okay, because it's a podcast, right? Hey. Okay. So I want to kind of wrap things up.

Looks like we've been here about 20 minutes. Thank you very much for hanging in with me. And, you know, family.

So we're talking about family and sports photography next month, January. I look forward to the topic being new beginnings and we'll see what that involves in terms of video. If you're listening to audio just now, that's fantastic.

Thank you very much. You can head over to my blog to see some of the pictures that inspired me during this episode. Link to the blog will be in the description below.

Is that what they say? It probably just in the description below the podcast, if that's how that works. So thank you very much for hanging in here to season two, episode one of moments that last podcast. And as always stay rooted, stay connected and stay focused.

Thanks everybody. Take care.

YT version

Podcast version

A new focus for my podcast. Hang on tight...

 The following is a transcript of my podcast episode PILOT for the new direction that my podcast is taking. This could be fun. Or not. Either way is fine with me. Did I correct the grammar from the AI transcript? No.

If you want to listen to the podcast itself, click here.

Is this recording? Yep. Okay. All right.

So hey, here I am sat in my shed Frustrated, frustrated, frustrated because I can't seem to get this expensive Rode Micro Wireless microphone thing to work and I really want it to work because I wanted to simultaneously record voice on one device and voice and video on another device so that I could have video along with this so that I could have video because I'm trying to lean into this and It's super frustrating. So That having been said welcome Welcome to and this is pretty much how things are gonna go, right? If you know me, you know me and this is pretty much how things go because I plan or I plan and then I Sometimes execute and sometimes don't and sometimes test things before I jump in and sometimes don't and this is a case where I thought I had tested things before I jumped and Apparently not or at least not to the satisfaction That I or the level that I needed to have in order to make this work, but enough about the rambling even though sometimes some of the things that I've read about Podcasts production and things like that say that you should talk for a couple of minutes At the beginning of your podcast to get your voice warmed up So that when you get to the topic your voice is warmed up. So a minute and a half plus in hey welcome to a pilot episode for this new podcast Idea That I've had and I'm gonna move forward with it and we'll see what happens Do I expect anything grandiose to come with this? Nah, am I gonna change lives? Probably not Um, is anything monumental gonna come out of this? No, but it'll give me something to do, right? So my podcast I have a title for my podcast and it is moments that last so welcome to moments that last Where we're going to explore moments that shape us from stories captured through my camera lens Uh through um Vermont folklore and history which we've kind of touched on already Uh, and then two other two other topics that uh are meaningful to me is of course.

Um My work as a hospice nurse and as a nurse in general, but specifically over the past six years as a hospice nurse um and um What I talk about, you know I'll share some experiences and talk about some things from that Uh, and then another thing that's that's kind of near and dear to me And this is the one that I'm kind of on the fence about but we'll see how things evolve Uh are Japanese traditions and foods Um, I really like a lot of the Japanese traditions. I like a lot of their food Uh, I think some of it can tie into how we live our lives now so That one I'm kind of on the fence about and that one may be a Flexible category if that makes sense, but I'm definitely going to be talking about photos that I've taken talking about Pictures and my experiences as a photographer and maybe even being able to offer some tips along the way Vermont folklore Uh and in history, I mean there's so much around here that I that I think just goes unnoticed or maybe at least unnoticed by me So if I'm not noticing it then My assumption is that other people aren't noticing you either and so why not bring those things to light? uh so The way I'm going to structure Or at least the idea of the way I'm going to structure this podcast going forward starting next week Is that each month is going to have a theme? and Within that theme each week will have a theme. So for example the first week of And I want to say first week of the month, but the way I mapped it out um and the way things fall It was going to be like the first week of the month was going to be for example stories about stories About photography pictures that I've taken some background behind some of them And then the second week was going to be We'll call it Japanese culture food and other interests Uh third week was going to be hospice related anecdotes insights and lessons learned And the fourth week was going to be about Vermont folklore history and interesting tidbits from around upper valley and as I was mapping it out for the next like three or four months or something like that because I I'm going to try to stick with the schedule and plans And things like that and kind of treat this whole Hobby, if you will more like a part-time job so that I'm scheduled to do things uh As I was mapping it out it was Fairly soon.

It was that the first week of the month really wasn't like uh stories about photography It was like the last week of the month ended up being that and then the first week of the month was the second So it just kind of rolls. So it's just going to be in a four-week cycle Like I said first week It's going to rotate between stories about photography stuff about Japan Japanese culture Foods those kinds of things other interests that I have Third week is going to be hospice related anecdotes insights lessons learned I'm, not going to say anybody's name And I will try to keep things as vague as possible because here in the upper valley A lot of people know a lot of people And I don't want to oops. Wow, that's gonna sound awful Uh, and I don't want to infringe on anybody's privacy um and Uh, then the last one is going to be about vermont stuff and upper valley stuff So it's going to be a rotating basis.

And then like I also said Monthly, i'm going to have themes. So the december theme is going to be family Uh, january is going to be beginnings and i'm not going to talk about. Um I'm not going to talk about new year's resolutions because So it's going to be about beginnings, right? Why not? Uh february it looks like I have on my calendar it's going to be a talk about love actually and I don't know maybe Because it's february, uh, but I might not I don't know and march is to be determined It's way too far in the future for me to talk about My goal and i'm going to put this out there.

My goal is to have a new episode released every tuesday morning Um, and it's funny because as I was mapping this out I had on my calendar for yesterday That I was going to record this, uh so that I could have it scheduled to post Today because as we as we sit here as I sit here in my shed um Today is tuesday. And so it was supposed to post and already be in people's inboxes or People's um, anyway, it was gonna be posted By tuesday morning and I already blew, uh That whooshing sound that I heard yesterday evening was my deadline passing me by um So i'm already behind schedule. So i'm going to try to have the goal is to have new episodes released every tuesday and um as people listen and comment and Have interest or not Please let me know if it's something that you want if there's something out there that you want to discuss or let's say it's a hospice Related question because a lot of people have questions about hospice uh Feel free to to send me those questions and maybe I can address them on a on a future episode Uh, keep in mind though if it's things about hospice, I cannot Uh talk specifically to situations that you may be going through And any advice is just general um So yeah, that's it.

And i've also got a um, so my my title, uh Of the podcast is moments that last so big zig podcast moments that last or big zig Moments that last with big zig or I don't know. We'll figure that part out. Uh, and then my catchphrase, uh, which is kind of my my, uh overall, um Theme, uh is uh, stay rooted stay connected and stay focused.

So Haha, this is scream so much cheese. It's funny. Uh, I got a whole charcuterie bar of cheese.

It's so cheesy um, anyway, so thanks for thanks for hanging out with me for um, For I don't know how long it's been 10 15 minutes or so, uh, and my ramblings, uh, but welcome to the Thank you for tuning in, uh to the pilot episode of moments that laugh And until next time, uh, stay rooted stay focused. No, no Oh my god, stay rooted stay connected and stay focused Appreciate you guys. Bye

What's the big idea?

 Lot's changing in my life recently and for the foreseeable future.

Today is 251122, a Saturday. I am sat at my computer, rummaging through font choices on my favorite font site, www.dafont.com, looking for fonts to use for my new tag line.

Yep, a tag line. Because let's face it. What's a business without a catchy tagline? "Just Do it," "The Mark With Three Stripes," "Gotta Ketchum All," and "Built Ford Tough" come to mind, for some reason. I blame the Bulleit. Anywhooo....

I was chatting online last night with CoPilot about a podcast. We spent about an hour or so tossing ideas back and forth, and came up with this as a tagline for my podcast, which I think can also be used with all of my endeavors:

"Rooted. Connected. Focused."

Yea? Who knows. I also think that a title for the podcast could be:

"Moments That Last."

I like that better than "Moments In Between," which had kinda been my idea from the very start. I like to try to capture not only the important moments in photography, but also the ones in between the action: people hanging out on the sidelines, chatting; the crowd's reactions; refs; all that stuff. It just seems now, however, that "Moments That Last" fits me better.

I mean, it could have been "Last Moments," but...nah. 

So there it is. Look for "Moments That Last" as a podcast title in the next few weeks. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hoping to use this space more in the future.

Peace,

BigZig

They say, "You can't go home."

Yesterday as I was travelling toward Goshen, VT for an Endurance Society event, I made a decision to detour to the house I grew up in. It is 3.5 miles off of the main road, and about 2.5 of those are dirt. During the 12 years that I lived on Gilead Road, not much changed, which is one of the reasons we all lived up there, I guess.
Life was simple(r) back then, in the mid 70's-mid 80's. At least it was for me; I turned 17 in 1986. Not saying it was easier, just simpler.

i own no rights to this image

As I drove along Gilead, there were clear signs of change mixed in with subtle signs that somethings never change. New houses, new side roads, slightly wider swaths along the brook (thank you, Irene). The paved part was just as choppy as always; I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't been resurfaced in the past 30+ years. Once I hit the dirt part it was tough to fight the urge to drive like a rally car racer, especially since it was in the process of being graded for the summer. Several places had been washed away earlier this spring, as evidenced by some mis-matching gravel in some places and still-existing missing parts of the road in others.
Not far along, after I'd passed the grader, I came across the first sight that tugged at my heart-strings. The bridge to a longtime family friend's house had been partially washed out. The irony here is that the homeowner, Thomas, designed and constructed one of the longest bridge spans along Interstate 91 in Vermont. This was back in the days of rolled up blue prints, slide rulers, and steam shovels. Yet here it was, a short concrete span across the Gilead Brook, impassible. 
At last, I made my way to our old house. Originally built by a barrel maker as a camp, it housed our family for over a decade. We had made some changes to the inside (added dormer to second floor and created 2 bedrooms) as well as the outside (eliminated an odd roof pitch). In the summer of my freshman year my dad and I built a 24' x 24' garage/barn/shed. That same summer we hosted an exchange student from Japan who has become a lifelong friend; we still chat online every now and again. Takahiro helped during construction, and signed the big support beam. To this day I wonder if his artwork is still visible.
I parked just beyond the house at the top of a new-to-me access road, loaded up the camera, and headed down memory lane.

At the bottom of the hill there runs a small brook. Most summers it would dry up in spots, giving me pause to wonder what would happen to the fish that weren't in the deeper pool. The stream would rage in the spring with runoff from the hills on either side and we could hear it from within our house even though we couldn't see it through the trees. There exists a stone bridge to cross the stream and head up the next hill. When I was a young teen a storm had come through and dislodged some of the larger pieces, so my Dad and I had a go at repairing it as best we could. From that summer came the running joke, "they're heavy because they're filled with water!" My heart swelled when I saw that the bridge was still there, structurally sound. Some logging had been done recently, and it was clear that the bridge had been used by some machinery much heavier than the old tractor that we used to haul wood to heat the house. One or two stones had fallen back into the brook on the downstream side, but most likely because they were so heavy and water logged. 

 The rest of my time in the woods revealed a network of logging roads in various stages of natural reclamation, a clear cut area with great a southern view and a lean-to, and enough new-growth beech trees to feed a small army of bears. I got to doing the math and figured that it has been around 33 years since I'd wandered those hills. Several times I stood simply and marveled at life.
Having fed enough black flies and mosquitoes for one day, I headed back to the car, leaving behind the woods where I often ran, chased by unseen villains. The woods where I toiled long hours with my father to bring in firewood. The woods where I would go to simply get away from my parents, from life, and to clear my head. 
Along the way I snapped a few more pictures. Perhaps my favorite is the one of the white pine tree. Looking closely, you can spot two boards up there. They are the remains of a 'tree fort' that I built nearly 40 years ago! One summer I went on a tree fort building spree and had several of them around that field. Like I said, life was more simple back then.
Thank you for stopping by. A full album of the pictures I took on this adventure can be found by clicking here.