whew!

sunrise, on the way to montpelier on january 7, 2020

One of our state legislators resigned his seat, midway through his biennium term. Ben was an Independent, and so, his seat was not filled by the usual party caucus system. Instead, the Governor asked for applications to fill the vacancy. After much soul searching, Batman sent in a resume and cover letter, expressing his interest in filling the vacancy as an Independent. Nine other residents in our district also filed letters of interest. All ten were interviewed by the Governor’s staff, and Batman was one of two candidates called back for an interview in mid-December with the Governor himself. A week ago Friday, I answered the phone and the voice on the other end said, “Hello, this is Phil Scott, is Batman (well, not really) there?”. And so, our newest life adventure begins!

We spent time last weekend scrambling to find Batman’s suits, ties and dress shirts that had been stashed away in various closets (we thought his cape might be a bit too much for the State House). He had been doing a lot of reading and learning about the legislature in preparation for his meetings, but things got a lot more serious, as the new legislative session began on this past Tuesday! I went up to Montpelier with Batman to witness his swearing in and to watch the opening of the session. As the Speaker of the House said from the podium, Batman’s appointment came “just in the nick of time”. Three Abenaki elders offered the devotional, calling the four directions and offering a lovely blessing that was filled with urgency about the challenges of global climate change. It was an extraordinary thing to hear these women speaking truth to power. Because this is the second year of the biennium, the rest of the legislators had been seated last year. Batman is one of two “new kids on the block”, and he had to be “seated” by the Sargent at Arms, who led him into the chamber and over to his chair, while the entire Legislative body applauded. Over the noon hour, he was interviewed live on the radio by Jane Lindholm (one of Karen’s favorites) on VPR. If you would like to listen to the interview, look here, and scroll to about 28 minutes in. Or listen to whole piece! We are not much for a lot of hoopla around here, but we agreed that the morning had been quite extraordinary. Our journey from “flatlanders” to grateful citizens of the “brave little state of Vermont” has been more transformative than either of us ever dreamed!

Life has changed a bit for us. We've had to set up a Facebook page for Batman, he has signed up for Twitter (!!!) and things feel much more public. A routine visit to the transfer station on Saturday turned in to a gabfest with constituents, and it's all been a bit of a whirlwind.

So......that's why things have been quiet around here at sewandsowlife. Later this week this little spot on the internet turns 11! There will be a wee giveaway to mark the occasion, so stay tuned.

xo