Welcome!

I'm back in Vermont after being gone for 12 and a half years. There are so many changes, and yet, so much is exactly the same. I had planned on moving to Barre, and came up with this blog name before I actually settled in Montpelier. Sadly there is no other pronunciation for the word Montpelier, and I can't resist a good pun OR a good homograph, so I'm sticking with "Raising the Barre." (The one syllable ballet barre, that is.) Perhaps I'll post a picture of myself in a tutu someday. For now, I'm thrilled to share this photo of Elia Corti, a fellow paisan who was a master sculptor living in Barre until his tragic death in 1903. Using the image of a man who truly raised the bar in his field of stone cutting seems appropriate for this blog. You can read much more about this great artisan here.

As a Vermonter, I was never overly impressed by the beauty here. I just took it for granted. But, since I've been back for less than a month, I'm still stunned when I drive past Camel's Hump on 89, and I gasp when see Mount Mansfield in the distance as I'm driving east on Main Street in Burlington heading toward Williston Road. I hope I never forgot how beautiful and awe-inspiring these things are.