Or How I Learned To Love The Bomb
The big white farmhouse is pretty important for two reasons. The first of which, is that it is an early reproduction farmhouse. Long before Vermont was Vermont, New Hampshire was Vermont and in ski towns the adirondack architectural style was modified to make a nice fake farmhouse. Note the double dormers, I have never seen a real “farmhouse” with two shed dormers like that. The second reason that this house is important is because it was lived in by Katharine Peckett, an amazing women I wrote about in my Bennington application. Katharine was very influential in getting Americans to go skiing, and is sometimes credited as bringing skiing to America. I never knew her well, but what I do remember was fabulous and willful. She had one of the most beautiful gardens in the entire town, one that was envied by all. On fridays when I could ski home from the bus stop, I would sometimes cut through the field in front of her house. I stopped doing this however, when she had a talk with my parents about her dislike of porcupines. The thing is, she hated porcupines and was always ready to get out her shotgun and take care of them. I definitely did not want to be mistaken for a porcupine.