Green Mountain Pride
This image was taken on a recent trip to Manchester, Vermont, a picturesque town nestled in the Green Mountains, a range that extends north to south approximately 250 miles from the border of Massachusetts to Quebec, Canada. It basks in the shadow of Mount Equinox, ranked the 13th highest state peak of 3,840 feet.
As we were driving through the surrounding countryside, I spotted this large American flag hung between two stately trees on a sprawling, hillside property. The sight of an American flag on display always makes me feel good. To find one waving proudly in the breeze as I was driving down a country road is just a wonderful surprise for which I must thank the property owners. The strong, complementary colors of red and green, the vibrancy of the green/yellow rolling hills and trees, and the ‘piece de résistance’ – stone wall – made me stop in my tracks to capture this stunning image.
Manchester, like many New England towns, has a special connection with our nation’s history. Theirs is a personal story as it involves the family of Abraham Lincoln. In the summer of 1864, Mary Todd Lincoln and her two sons vacationed at the town’s elegant Equinox Hotel. They enjoyed it so much that Mary made a reservation to return the following summer, but family plans changed after the president’s assassination.
Forty years later, her older son, Robert, then the president of the Pullman Company, returned to build Hildene, his sprawling summer mansion on almost 500 acres. Robert’s family spent more than 20 years enjoying the estate. He died here in 1926.