down the reservoir road

i wanted to make some kind of photo tour of a trip down somerset road so i went up just at sunrise and started taking pictures all the way down of the structures on the road, with the exception of the buildings and fenced-in structures on the underside of the dam.

i like to imagine the lives of the buildings along the road; some of them are year-round residences, some are fixer-uppers, some hunting camps or fishing camps or just a family's summer residence. you can sort of tell which ones will be occupied only as a deer camp and which ones will host whole families, extended family, and friends in their seasons.

they are all off the grid. there's no city water, no city sewage, and the electricity made along the river does not come back up here on lines.

the morning i was taking pictures along the road the owner of this house came out to ask me what i was doing. "taking pictures of all the buildings down the road, as sort of a photo essay".

he wanted to know where i was from, and he seemed to be satisfied that i'm from west bolton, and the unsaid conversation that passed between us was that while i was an outsider to this place, i had a proper understanding of small hilltowns and i was acceptable even if i am from chittenden county.

he told me that he is in the process of ripping off the siding and reinsulating the whole house and installing solar panels, because it's an old house and it costs a bundle to heat. he was in the process of pouring concrete pads for the panels behind the house and he took no small pride in telling me he was doing all the work himself.

then he said he had to drive his granddaughter to school and wished me a happy day. i wished him  good luck with his work and good weather for it, and i went on down the road.