VERMONT
Don't ever tell me that miracles never happen because just last week a small miracle was bestowed upon the hapless residents of Brattleboro, Vermont.
At some point last year, a group of young people discovered, and don't ask me how, that Brattleboro had no laws or regulations regarding public nudity. Not surprisingly, a small herd of them began to gather in a small park sans clothing. This caused some consternation among some of the older residents, had no effect on others, but nonetheless garnered national media attention. After a while, things simmered down, but not before some outsiders began making Brattleboro their destination for reasons I probably don't need to explain.
Brattleboro, Vermont is a gorgeous little town, like so many towns in Vermont. For anyone reading this who has not been, it is well worth the trip. An eclectic little hamlet, a very artsy place with lots of book shops, little gift shops, coffee shops and bakerys. Surrounded by the beautiful vista of mountains like most of Vermont and inhabited by eccentric, and usually, bright types of folks. However, like all good things, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch and earlier this year that bad apple came in the form of an eighty-something year-old woman who decided to strut her well-seasoned stuff. Whoaa!! Hold on a minute, let's back up a little. Suddenly, the much celebrated bastion of personal freedom had to revisit their nudity laws, or lack of them as it were, and insituted a "temporary ban" on public nudity.
Imagine if it had been a black man or woman that had caused the brakes to lock up on the wheels of freedom. Oh, we would have heard about it from coast to coast...the outrage of it. Sharpton and Jackson would have been in Vermont for the first time in their lives, hopefully dressed, lamenting our sorry lack of progress in civil rights. Instead, there was virtual silence. Why the "temporary" ban? Were they hoping the aged nudist would pass away quietly so the fun could resume? I don't know if she passed or not, but last week the bells of freedom chimed loud again as the ban was lifted, miraculously, just in time for one last "hot" summer weekend. Yes, once again, the sublime yet sweet scent of freedom, at least I think that's what I smell, wafted through the green hills of Brattleboro. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last...
Of course, freedom isn't really "back", because it never left in the first place. What is back is the ridiculous notion among these people who detest clothing, that they are somehow more free, more enlightened, or perhaps just more chilly, than the rest of us. It's pathetic, really, that while young men and women are fighting and dying half a world away, while our own country is besieged with more problems than I could even list in a one page column, that these fleshy munchkins in Vermont think that they have won some sort of battle. Really, they have been re-licensed to go out and behave like idiots, thinking that their nakedness makes some kind of bold statement. It's no different than the nudist camps. A bunch of half-wits convinced that they are on a "different level" than the rest of us, free-spirits, deep-thinkers, not repressed by all that mainstream "clothing" stuff. Knock your selves out folks, just be careful with the barbecue tongs.
Sadly, this narrow view pervades the entire state of Vermont which now ranks as the most dismal in the country when it comes to protecting children. Again, the new-world order pervades with a stubborness that is unrivaled when it comes to strengthening child-predator laws. Vermont has become the benchmark for liberal judges and a "mind-your-own-business" mindset that now includes anyone who would molest children. How sad. I have spent much time in Vermont, both as a child and as an adult. I have visited many of her small airports and seen much of the state from the air. Staggering beauty. And I always thought of Vermont as a Yankee state. Old-timers who farmed and had that pragmatic sensibility about everything. The guys who put the "common" in common sense. Well, that has all but disappeared and been replaced by a new population of aging hippies and new-world-order soldiers who belive that anything goes. So, it is no surprise that Brattleboro is again leaving tan-lines for the rest of us, but remember there Vermont...too much sun can give you a headache. You're sure giving me one.
|