Search:The WebTripod

From Colleen Harwood, Administrative Assistant:

The editors think it's a good idea for all of you to get to know those of us behind the scenes here at Tripod. So here I am! I'm not sure how to introduce myself. I guess you could say I'm the secretary. Although I've tackled many projects here, for most every department, writing hasn't been a top request (which is probably in Tripods best interest). So, bear with me.

Unlike most of the Tripod team, I've lived in Williamstown, Massachusetts (Tripod's home base) all my life (though I've recently moved to nearby Pownal, Vermont). Now you must realize that there are as many Pownal jokes as their are blonde jokes and me being both - a blonde Pownalite - makes me a target for a fair share of wise cracks.

My moving to Vermont was a sheer accident. One of my two roommates was in charge of making phone calls to find an apartment. We looked at a few places. The options weren't great, but a couple had some potential. After weighing the pros and cons of each, we made a decision. My roommate grabbed the newspaper with the contact number, picked up the phone and dialed a number. I say "a" number because she called the number for a different listing. Once she realized she'd called the wrong listing, it was too late to hang up. We now had an appointment to inspect a house.

The three of us jumped in the car and headed to Pownal. We spent the drive up asking ourselves why we'd even look at the place. Why would we want to live in Vermont? Vermont had been stereotyped as "hicksville" where no civilization could be found. We would all have to commute to work and flip a coin to see who would be the DD on the weekends. On the way there, we passed farms and open fields. Every driveway had a pickup truck parked in it, and then the road turned to dirt. We all own little Hondas, and were definitely feeling a little out of our realm.

Just as we began to voice our doubts, we saw this cute little blue house on the side of the road. This was it. We looked at one another as not to give anything away, saying "Okay, let's check it out." As we parked, I could feel my eyes widening to take in the view. From where I sat, I could see the entrance was surrounded by a seemingly endless deck. We all quickly jumped out of the car and eagerly approached the landlord awaiting our arrival at the door.

We entered the house through the kitchen door. Beyond an island counter was the dining room - huge, with glass doors leading to the rest of the deck that initially caught my eye. After seeing only two of seven rooms, we were hooked, but we had to play it cool.

The living room was a comfortable size and it had a beautiful bay window with a view of an open field. And on it went. After our tour, we all then went back upstairs to "discuss" our feelings about the house. The landlord tossed out another lure; they travel frequently during the summer, and if we took care of their pool we'd be welcome to use it.

We told them we needed a little time and that we'd get back to them. My roommates and I got back in the car. When we lost sight of the house we screeched with excitement, "Vermont, here we come!!!" The following day we called to make moving arrangements. A week later, January 2, our boxes filled the house. Just to assure ourselves we weren't too far from civilization, we checked the mileage from our house to the local bar: 6.2 miles. Of course, work is only a hop, skip and a jump away. We were three happy campers.

Even with the rare warm days this Spring, the deck has proven to be the prize asset of the house. So go ahead, toss some of those Vermont jokes in addition to the blonde jokes my way. I'll just tilt my head from side to side, giggle and step on out to the great outdoors in my farmer pants and bask in the serenity of the countryside.

-- Colleen Harwood, Administrative Assistant (5/21/96)

---

Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the archive.

---