15_the_circle | Last Thursday: Putney

[OT from cottage renovations]

the point of the expedition was to provide my niece an opportunity for a site visit and interview with the Putney School.

what you see below is nothing but a few random images taken while walking around. the visit wasn't about photography, which is just as well because it would take more images, and a great deal more time, to capture the essence of the place.

what we saw goes beyond the loveliness of setting to the nature of the place and its people. one of the reasons it's taken me so long to post these is that they fall so far of the mark of doing it justice. with any luck, though, the future will provide further opportunities to explore these aspects. I'm certainly hoping so.

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Putney VT

setting

partial as I am to Maryland, the Vermont hilltop setting was nothing short of lovely, even on the hottest day of the year. note thermal refugees who have sensibly sought out shade.

the school is, among many other things, a working dairy farm. while we were walking around this large tanker truck backed up to the barn for a pickup.

outbound milk

inside, the newest member of the production team was happy to nuzzle up to visitors.

calf

the Putney School fully integrates the arts into all aspects of education and life. the class buildings each contain working studio space of one kind or another, and I don't think we were at any time out of the sound of music being practiced or performed.

smithy

dwarf runes chalked onto an exhaust hood in the blacksmith shop. one could hardly imagine them not being there.

some things don't change: I wasn't able to resist the temptation to capture at least one architectural detail.

newel post and bannister