There’s this thing about small towns. . .

I’ve been working with small towns for over 25 years.  From a certain perspective, that might seem like toiling in the minor leagues or playing the hinterlands with a traveling theater company. 

But, there is something wonderful about it.  You get to know people from all aspects of the community, from the mayor to school kids and sometimes even the local ne’er-do-wells.  A notorious slum lord in one town is also its expert at historic restoration.  A local historical society was so vehement in preserving its legacy that it only allowed visitors in its museum one day a year–easier to curate its keepsakes that way. 

And the stories.  Each place has narratives equal to anything Thornton Wilder or Dylan Thomas thought up. Maybe best of all, I love these places because of their scale.  It feels like you can hold them in the palm of your hand, like a beautiful fledgling bird.  This image of Montpelier, VT tries to capture that.  (Click on it to enlarge.)  Standing in St. Augustine’s Cemetery, you can take in the whole downtown in one glance.  I can’t imagine anything better.

Can you?