The Tops of Mountains plus Bread and Puppet Circus

It has been a long day!

We left this morning around 8 or 9, picked up Laura, Mike and Carol's friend, and started on our journey. After dropping off Mike and Laura in Victory Basin (a bog that they went bugging in), we made our way to some higher elevation. While those two were walking around the bugs, we decided to go hiking around the mountains. We were trying to stay in the same area so we wouldn't have to make too many switchbacks, so we decided on Burke Mountain. The downside was there are no hiking trails going up the mountain, only on top of it, which means we only got to hike for about an hour. It was still really neat, with some nice views (pictures below) and pretty easy. Carol and I are working on plans to hike up Camel's Hump on Thursday, weather permitting. I'm pretty excited about that, so I'm sure you'll be hearing a bit about it as it happens.

So, we picked up Mike and Laura and headed over to Glover for the Bread and Puppet Circus. Bread and Puppet put on a circus every Sunday throughout the summer that everyone can enjoy for free. You came in and parked, and it was just this huge open field that they used to preform. They had no official stage, just a backdrop that they kept everything behind. The performers come out and have costumes or masks made out of paper mache, and preform skits. Not the normal circus you're used to, but a really cool form of art. There was a lot of dancing, and a great band too. You could tell they put a lot of effort into it. The circus itself was pretty political, a good portion of it focusing on the wind turbines going up in Vermont. If I've learned anything in Vermont its that its natives are against anything that takes away from nature. Its really actually kind of inspiring. In the whole state of Vermont there is only one Walmart, and no billboards. The mom and pop shops have a lot better chance of surviving. Anyway, back to Bread and Puppet, after the circus was the 'pageant', where you moved over to a larger field and they used paper mache puppets and props to tell a story. Honestly, I'm not sure that anyone knew exactly what that story was.. but it was interesting to watch. You really got a sense for the camaraderie between all of the performers. As soon as the pageant was over they opened up the break shack and true to the name Bread and Puppet, they gave away free bread to everyone (and man was it good!). They do this, as well as sell various art very cheap, because they believe that puppetry and art should be as readily available as bread. They think that art shouldn't be withheld museums and the rich, but that it should be available to everyone who want to enjoy it. 

 Burke Mountain

Some of the Puppets

A couple slices of delicious bread! :)