Jericho, VT Mystery Photo #3 Woodpile

Jericho Mystery Photo #3
Realist or Optimist?

Jan 4, 2018 - The Jericho, VT. mystery photo for this week speaks to flexibility. In Vermont, one needs to be prepared for all weather contingencies. Who do you figure lives at this site, an optimist or a realist? Tell us your woodpile story. How many times do you handle each piece of wood before burning it? What creatures have you found living in your woodpile? What is the best method to split wood? What is your stacking pattern? Send us a photo of your woodpile for publication and bragging rights!

How well do you know Jericho? Put your community knowledge to the test in our Mystery Photo challenge. Send your response to Bernie.paquette@yahoo.com.

Answer to last week's Mystery Photo: 

Last wks Mystery Photo #2 

 A string of bells was heard at first, then a chorus of reindeer jingle bells rang out, wrote one young reader. There was Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, and my favorite, Rudolph.  They were dancing and prancing and lighting up the night, wrote one weary-eyed Jericho resident awakened by tiny hooves sliding along her metal roof. Why, steam was just shooting out their noses like little train engines, an elderly man wrote in. One thing is for sure, the mystery photo of the last issue was a female reindeer, as are all of Santa’s reindeer because, you see, only girl reindeer have antlers in the winter months.

      Besides being good, many Jericho residents said they hedged their bets by leaving out lichens, leafy greens, and dried mushrooms for the reindeer along with cookies for Santa Claus.  This helps explain the many reindeer sightings without any reports of reindeer poop or coal-filled stockings, though one reader did report a stocking with only a black LED flashlight inside. Perhaps this is the same person who swore the mystery photo was “the big one that got away again this year”.  At any rate, we are pleased that so many wrote in to tell us their reindeer encounter stories.  We conferred with Mr. Claus for a positive ID of the mystery photo, but he declined to be definitive, only to say that his sleigh ride through Jericho was exhilarating. Such natural beauty, colored lights on houses and trees - even one tree in the woods alongside the road - good, good children and adults too. A community to behold and one he and his hard-working reindeer girls will be sure to visit again next year. 

Correction: Karl Riemer advised "Caribou have distinctive headgear. That weather[-]vane is stylized but its antlers are diagnostically non-caribou. Closest in real life is common, endemic white-tailed deer."

Thank You, Karl. No offense to Santa and his reindeer, we will try to "be good (better) this year".

Bernie Paquette and Maeve Kim collaborates on discovering by observation, then sharing, photos and stories that make Jericho, like Vermont – a special place because you make it so! To see more of their Jericho, VT photos, visit Jerichovermont.blogspot.com.