“If you don’t know where you’re from, you’ll have a hard time saying where you’re going.”
~ Wendell Berry
There we were driving up the east coast again, back to Vermont, our newly adopted home. We were hungry for something, anything. We believed we couldn’t stay where we were – we had to GO. We felt we would find ‘that thing’ there among the green mountains dotted with artists, farmers, writers, crafters and homesteaders. And we did find it. But as with anything in life, it wasn’t what we expected in the end.
There we gained a deeper appreciation for the heart, patience and vulnerability that goes into the good food we eat as well as a greater respect for what the word “community” really means. We lived in the land of farms called the Northeast Kingdom away from all that we knew. He was the chef of a responsible restaurant, volunteered on an organic farm and worked towards making good food affordable. I helped a young magazine grow their inspiring business and a homegrown farm-to-table dinner series come to life. We had experiences to last a lifetime. Those experiences shaped who we are today.
But with that grew a hunger to return to the place we left. With our shift in perspective we realized we had blinders on and in all of our running we overlooked what was right in our hometown. So with that, back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina we came with the hopes of being a more connected part of this vibrant community with open minds and eyes.
This blog is our commitment to promoting all of the good stuff that is happening right here in our creative community. Good stuff that without awareness could get overlooked.
One day we hope to have our own space in this community as entrepreneurs. Until then, we celebrate all of those making great strides in and around Winston-Salem today.
With loads of hometown pride,
Andrea & Harrison
Townies 
I understand your attraction to Vermont. It is very much like our own mountains, but with more hardwoods and less pine. My daughter has been there since law school at VLS. She is now a practicing lawyer, wife, and mother of my two grandchildren (4 and 1 years old).
When I am there, I am always reluctant to come back to WS; but when I do come home here, I realize that we are gaining on farm- to- table, on recycling, and living with more respect for Mother Earth. I do wish, however, we were gaining on public education.
Still, what we have here is remarkable. I drive 12 to 15 minutes and hear some of the best chamber music I could ever wish for, We have an unusually rich cultural life because of Piedmont Opera, UNCSA and our own WS Symphony.
Isn’t it interesting that you are starting out and I am thinking about winding down, and we are connected by this strong tie to Vermont?
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Terri, I’m so glad you shared this. You’re so right about our area and how cool that we share this connection to the green mountains! Is your daughter still in the Royalton area? During our time there we lived in Montpelier, Stowe, Hardwick and Elmore Pond (we’re movers).
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Andrea,
You really did have the Vermont ecperience moving around that state. Did you find that native Vermonters look asksnce at people who are “from away”?
So far, my daughter’s had a positive experience because (as a native Vermonter told me):
1. Her 2 children were born at Dartmouth which makes them “native.”
2. Her husband gets a “wave in” because he is from Germany!
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Is that the Spring House I see in that kitchen shot? Glad to see you here! I’ll be following!
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Hey lady! It’s actually Five Loaves Catering, my mother-in-law’s GORGEOUS commercial kitchen. We’re excited to be back. We will have to get together with you and Mark sometime.
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LOVE everything about this blog and what you two are doing. I’ll definitely be following!
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