Book: Mud Season by Ellen Stimson

How One Woman's Dream of Moving to Vermont, Raising Children, Chickens and Sheep and Running the Old Country Store Pretty Much Led to One Calamity after Another

The cover of this book got my attention: slightly dirty, green LL Bean wellies on a bright red background. I have had this exact same pair of boots for 30 years. They are thick-soled and keep the wetness and muck out. They are spring boots.

Ellen and her family lived in St. Louis, Missouri, but were looking for a lifestyle change, were able to financially do it, considered their options and decided on Dorset, a small southern Vermont town.

Of course, they don't' immediately and permanently settle down into an idyllic new life, and this is their story…well-written, funny, honest, worth reading. The subtitle pretty much says it all.

On the first page:
"I had been married to John for a while, and we had two little kids. One was so wild, he might as well have been raised by actually wolves. The other one woke up mid-conversation every morning. She would open her eyes and say, 'And then,' beginning anew every day."

In the middle of the book:
"For a long time, we thought the Lovely Quaint Country Store would be our happy ending. I mean, it was right here in this perfect little village, with our lively home, and these gorgeous mountains. Being at the center of town life would be grand. We could stitch ourselves into the fabric of this historic place, and maybe make a little profit whittle we were at it. The store had so much potential. The right family could really make it sing and dance…. As least that was the idea right up until the night I sent Davy Crockett into the dwarf cellar to fight a monster that turned downtown Dorset into an ice rink."

At the end:
"We weren't in town for the closing. The five of us went to the Northeast Kingdom. Lake Willoughby, in northeastern Vermont, is a natural wonder. It is a glacial lake with two mountains rising up behind it, creating an Arctic Alpine vibe. Surrounded on all sides by mountains and forest, it is utterly pure, clear and absolutely gorgeous. There are about a million pine trees lining the stores, so the piney smell is the first thing you notice when you step out of your car. It is profoundly quiet and wild."

And mixed in between are the stories of buying and renovating their home, the seasons, skunks, sheep, chickens, dogs and goats, neighbors, holidays, kids, ice and mud and sunshine, and lots of food with recipes at the end of the book.