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This native of Randolph Center, Vermont, quit a Job as an auto mechanic to return to the family farm in hopes of keeping it running. In addition to Jersey cow milk, he and his mother sell goat's milk to private customers and a local nursing home: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, May 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
Am I the only one
my neighbour’s
frolicksome goat,
Ginger,
tied to a pecan tree?
All morning
it has been examining
an empty bushel basket
one leg delicately
like a circus horse
as if to roll it,
but whether to do that
or to butt it
with its small horns,
that is the question.
no signing of the Charter,
quickest of the elements.
Carl Rakosi (1903-2004): from Ginger, in The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi, 1986
Early morning mist from a river carpets the length of the East Randolph, Vermont, valley: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, May 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
The village of East Randolph, Vermont, where buildings only change with the weight of years and heavy snows, is seen shortly after the dawn mist has risen: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, May 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
This woman lives on a dairy farm near Randolph Center, Vermont, that has been owned by the family for six generations. Low milk prices and increasing property taxes threaten her way of life: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, June 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
The surviving child of 13 offspring, this man has lived alone since his mother's death 25 years ago. He continues to run the family farm, and tends a herd of 30 Whitefaced cattle, plus four pigs and 15 dogs: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, June 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
Resident of Roxbury, Vermont, draws off the finished syrup from a homemade evaporator. Instead of working in a sugar house he sets up a makeshift rig in a new spot each year to use fallen timber and loose brush to fire the sawed-off oil drum: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, May 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
Viewer comments on above photo by Hred pics, 2010:"Looks like one of the Webster boys. They've all passed on now". "I showed this to a friend, she's pretty sure that's Curtis Webster. He lost the fingers of one hand in a railroad accident."
Uncharacteristically somber, this 76-year-old native of East Randolph, Vermont, finishes his morning's third cup of coffee. Since his legs went bad he is now able to do only small repair jobs. His work career Included that of a farmer, lumberjack, mechanic, ice cutter, hotel manager, professional chauffeur and handyman: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, June 1974 (U. S. National Archives)
Viewer comment on above photo by Hred pics, 2010: "Trust me, we are still living that way."
Who can say now,
“When I was young, the country was very beautiful?
Oaks and willows grew along the rivers
and there were many herbs and flowering bushes.
The forests were so dense the deer slipped through
the cottonwoods and maples unseen.”
Who would listen?
Who will carry even the vicarious tone of that time?
In the old days
age was honored.
Today it’s whim,
the whelp without habitat.
Who will now admit
that he is either old or young
or knows anything?
All that went out with the forests.
Carl Rakosi (1903-2004): The Old Codger’s Lament. from The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi, 1986
This area Is known as Gay Hill near Stockbridge, Vermont. The farm was originally built in the 1800's by Ephraim Twitchell, the famous Vermont bridge builder: photo by Jane Cooper for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project, March 1974 (U. S. National Archives)