My sister lives in this dome in Richmond, Vermont
Flights are cancelled for the next days, and my parents, myself and everyone else here visiting for the holidays is stuck in Vermont.
And? My nephews—Leo (7), Huck (4), and Roy (2)— certainly don’t mind the blizzard. They dwell blissfully in the now, sledding down the hill toward the freezing creek and playing with legos by the wood burning stove. No TV for distraction here, just old-fashioned play and books and simple toys. Oh, and Another Culture.
This is a geodesic dome crowned with solar panels. When that electricity is not used, it gets channeled back into the power grid to light their neighbors’ homes. They endorse a Transition Town philosophy of heating with wood—a renewable, resource gathered from their own land, and therefore less dependent on oil. They’re planning to scale back from two cars to one. Clothing swaps, child-care co-ops, CSAs, composting toilets… if this isn’t officially the SVR (Second Vermont Republic) it sure feels like it.
When my sister brought Leo, Huck, and Roy down to the Big Apple to visit me some months back Huck got one of his first packaged treat—in Vermont it’s all always peeled or shucked—and he later wanted another granola bar but didn’t know how to express it. Scrunching up his forehead he finally said, “Mommy, I want something… ‘wapped in garbage.” Wrapped in garbage! Could you have said it better?
On their drive back to Vermont—where billboards are illegal and the Wal-Mart until recently, didn’t exist (VT had been the last holdout)—they took a bathroom stop at a box-store complex near Boston, at a Barnes & Noble bookseller. My sister was going to the bathroom and asked 7-year-old Leo if he wanted to go too. Never having heard of Barnes & Noble, he replied: “No, I’ll wait in the barn.”
It’s fun to be around kids living a commercial-free childhood. So, as the snowflakes continue to bury their dome, I look around at the only advertising in sight… the words “Respect” and “Thoughtfulness” that grace the rounded walls. And a quote from Mary Oliver that my sister wrote out by hand: “The path to heaven doesn’t lie down in flat miles. It’s in the imagination with which you perceive this world and the gestures with which you honor it.”
"The imagination with which you perceive the world"
Joel S Henderson says
December 28, 2010 at 12:07 amwow…your sister’s family is living my dream life…do they need help on their land? I’m half-kidding…
William Powers says
December 28, 2010 at 12:10 amThey have 10 acres and most of it is wild. Her husband is a very skilled carpenter and has built an extension onto the original dome– and put the panels up himself. They made their dream a reality… what’s yours? Perhaps you could as well…
ANA says
December 28, 2010 at 4:57 amWilliam this is exactly the way i wan’t to live in the near future….would it be posible that I write to your sister and just ask a few questions on how she and her husband started?
Thank you
Rob Viglas says
December 28, 2010 at 2:30 pmNice!
It’s great to hear of other folks who “get it” and are living “it”. We built our own small off-grid straw bale home in SW Vermont and live much the same way. It’s amazing how many people still think we’re the ones who are crazy! “Right on!” to your sister and her family.
p.s. Just got your book 12 X 12, can’t wait to dig into it!
William Powers says
December 28, 2010 at 5:47 pmDear ANA, Sure, I could pass your email onto my sister (send it to me as a comment) and I’m sure she’ll contact you. Good luck!
William Powers says
December 28, 2010 at 5:50 pmHi Rob, What size is your small off-grid straw bale? How long have you been living off-grid? Thanks for sharing, and I hope you enjoy the book!
Rob Viglas says
December 29, 2010 at 2:10 amHi William,
Our house was just under 1000 sq ft of living space but decided to add on a tool/utility room to the back due to a second child that came along while building!
We just moved into the house last May and still have plenty of work to finish up. Cabinets, trim, storage, etc. So, we are just kind of getting used to our system this winter and working out a few little kinks in it but overall it’s awesome. It’s fun to watch our four year old shut off lights and not wasting water without being told! We heat with wood from our land and have a four to five hour fire every three to four days to keep us warm.
A small cordwood or earthbag pottery studio is next…
William Powers says
December 29, 2010 at 12:49 pmWow, sounds fantastic Rob. If you’d like to expand your comment above into a “guest blog” on Texture we could do that, adding a few photos. Let me know. bill -at- williampowersbooks.com
Rob Viglas says
January 3, 2011 at 10:23 amHi William,
Thank you for the offer. I sent you an email.