Roads of CommUnity Living Series #6 Cilley Hill Road

Welcome to our Series #6 of Roads to Community Living in Jericho, Vermont. We aim to walk every dirt road and most of the paved roads in Jericho. We hope you will enjoy looking at some of the views that caught our eye. We encourage you to find your favorite walks in Jericho to explore, see what they show you, hear what stories they tell, and perhaps find out why the chicken crossed the road. Perhaps to visit four towns in one short crossing!

 

How long does it take to walk a four-town dirt road? It took us two excursions to fully absorb most of what Cilley Hill in the towns of Jericho, Essex, Westford, and Underhill offered us.

We occasionally stopped to more fully take in the nature sounds of frogs, birds, chickens, insects, and a few cattle.

"This land is your land, and this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

Saw below me the golden valley

This land was made for you and me.

             I roamed and rambled, and I've followed my footsteps..."
                            Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land.

And so we walk

From Jericho Center, to the farming fields, to the ponds, streams, waterfalls,
to the woodlands, and nooks and crannies in between.

Sometimes folks step out their front door and ask, "what ya all doing today?" Or "Are you admiring my 'house', or 'bird feeders' or 'gardens' or another part of their yard they see us fixing a gaze on.

And so, sometimes, a conversation starts up. We learn a little bit more about our community and the folks who live in it with us.

Sometimes it is just us and chickadees, chipmunks, and an occasional Carolina wren. And that's ok. The quiet is a welcome friend as well.











What is it about moving water that can mesmerize us?


Go ahead, take a minute to let the sound and sight of the ever-moving water wash away your fears, smooth your challenges, filter and clarify your thoughts, and carry you over any stones along your way.



Doors, at least to me, are often contrived to tell a story. What do you think these doors are telling us?


















Stone houses must be built by the best of puzzlers. Every piece seems like it is in the only place it could fit, the very place it was designed to fit into.

Windows and their dress wear also speak volumes, I think.

Sky Views are heavenly.

The Davis Family-owned Farm is one of the few farms in Jericho.  A Grass-fed and organic dairy farm; they sell raw milk, farm-fresh eggs, and compost. The farm offers accommodations with a guest suite and a guest house.

Old houses, like the late 1700's house behind this barn can be tough to heat. This one was owned by Mr. Cilley whom the Cilley Hill road is named after.

Call out to Efficiency Vermont - Can you put together a good ROI?


Sensible Vermonter's leave the 'winter apparel' out or near at hand to pretty near mid-July.

Fairpoint must have up and left Vermont in a hurry. Perhaps they determined that bringing phone service to rural areas of Vermont was tougher than biking in mud season. Seems they did not even have the wherewithal to come back for their phone booth.













FOR WHO?

Small wells are better to quench your thirst.


 We are almost there, just reach up and I will give you a hand up. Come on you can do it. Just a little more... Together we can do this.

Somebody's dog has a sense of humor.



Like us, this stream was just a meandering along.

Sitting, just sitting is undervalued. Perhaps its joy will be re-discovered this summer.





Sitting in the morning sun, just a sitting on the dock of the bay, watching time roll away.













                                       From Yesterday to Today moving to Yesterday. What was new is now old, what is new will soon be old. Only time holds its value.











Resembles the hair on my head - growing in tufts here and there with lots of gaps in between.

Today's farmers must often feel boxed in. Yet some find a way to continue to be good stewards of the land and earn enough to go on for another day. Thank You, Farmers - you are essential in improving and managing the soil that feeds us all.

       The Art of Lines














We stopped to ask these beautiful long-horned cattle for directions. They steered us in the right direction!





Humpback whales in Vermont are rare. This one seemed to be feeding on fiddleheads.




These folks advise us of an American Bittern living on a large pond along Cilley Hill Road.  We were all ears for a loud 'Gallup.

We are guessing it was used to make giant milkshakes.

And so we reached, crossed, and surpassed the crossroads of Jericho, Westford, Essex, and Underhill. We don't know what the chicken found but when we crossed we found what we were looking for. How about you?

Bernie & Maeve

Jericho Vermont Images of Community

Intimate, caring, and personal; 

reflecting the community and its stories.