Jenny Walty

I spent a lovely long weekend with Lil' B and Miss E.J. at the Tucker's house in Vermont. Joan and David took care of us in every way, feeding us till we almost burst, plying us with drinks, and sharing the bounty of their burgeoning August garden.

They built their house before Brynna Kate was born, a beautifully grown and lived-in house on a hill in Sutton, overlooking their 75 acres of forest with a stream, a sping, the ruins of a maple sugar processing house, an old stone wall sloping down from the road on the south side of the clearing, and several miles of trails that David maintains. The clearing is filled with goldenrod, feathering above thistles, long grasses, and a lonely black-eyed susan. There's an old yellow birch by the wall, marking the property line.