Life in a Snow Globe

When icy flurries subside, Vermont’s idyllic charm warms the heart and mind.

- John Knox

Winter in Vermont has a special magic.

Christmas lights and pristine snow add a quiet and peaceful mystique to the season, which begins as soon as Thanksgiving dishes go back into the cupboard.

I’ve lived in the Green Mountain State all my life. Whenever I visit with a new Vermont resident, I tell them that what they’ll remember most about winter isn’t the degree of cold or the amount of snow but the length of the season. We won’t see bare ground until the second week in April. As a rough estimate, winter is 18 weeks long, which is about one-third of the year.

With a population of around 626,000, our state is rural. Vermont is bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by New Hampshire and the Connecticut River, on the south by Massachusetts, and on the west by Lake Champlain and New York.

The Green Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain chain, run from north to south down the center of the state. As a result, we have many small villages tucked away in mountain valleys. I love these quaint villages with church spires that rise above the town, marking the center of the community.

Christmas is the first big event of winter. People happily decorate their storefronts, homes, churches and village greens, creating the holiday atmosphere.