Reflections

It's been quite a few weeks since I posted any new reading on The Daily Drive. The summer has a way of changing daily habits & can keep you outdoors more than in front of a computer screen. Now though as I look back on the weeks since my last post so much has happened in my family & in my community that it is no surprise that I suddenly had more important things consuming my time than an occasional post on a blog. First; in the middle of July as my wife & I waited to begin our trip to see our daughter & her boyfriend in San Diego we got a call from her to tell us that Evan had been in a serious accident as he crossed a set of railroad tracks late at night in the dark. Suddenly our planned trip to California for a few days of sight seeing & just enjoying family became one of frantically making our way across the country to be with her as we waited for word as to whether or not doctors could save his leg. After several days & as many surgeries we received the good news that he would walk again. We returned home however not knowing how long he would be hospitalized or exactly what their idea of "walking" meant. Then, just weeks later, tropical storm Irene made her way through New England. Like you I was stunned at the devastation that she left in her wake. My family in Connecticut was safe, but out of power for several days. Here in Vermont & more specifically Rutland County it was much worse. I saw the devastation first hand as I traveled up & down route 4 just a day or two after Irene struck. Mile after mile I wondered how in God's name any of route 4 could be repaired before winter set in or how we would get to those who were cutoff from the rest of us before summer turned to winter and made it that much more difficult to help them.
However, even before I took that first trip (on the Tuesday after the storm) up route 4 toward Killington, local contractors were already on site repairing the damage. The Belden Company & Cassella Construction, both Rutland based businesses, took the lead on getting things done in record time. In less than 3 weeks, working non-stop around the clock, those businesses & others along with members of several branches of the National Guard completed a job that normally would've taken months to finish. There are still many at this writing whose lives are far from back to normal and there is still much work to be done, but as many others have said over the last several weeks it is a wonderful feeling to be part of a community like ours & like so many others all across this state that helps people they don't even know & makes Vermont a special place to live.

Today there is also much work to be done in getting Evan back to a full recovery but I am happy to write that he improves every day and although his physical therapy is difficult he faces it with an attitude found only in a special few. And because of that the days ahead look promising. Just as they do here.... in a special community we call Vermont.