Since Jean Hamilton from NOFA-VT is scheduled to speak at our first statewide conference in Louisiana, I have been in touch with her during this difficult week up there. She sent me this email:

Our offices were closed yesterday due to the fact that all roads into town were completely flooded. I tried driving in from two of the three directions when I finally got a glimpse of the Winooski river turned sea.

So, I headed into Burlington instead where I spent the day helping farmers at the Intervale cart produce to high ground. A bunch of us filled a cooler with as much as four farms could harvest before the water took their fields, only to realize that the water was definitely going to fill the cooler as well. Luckily, our local school district is very supportive of local farms and invited them to move all their stuff up to a HUGE walk in cooler at the middle school. It was an emotionally confusing day with lots of sunshine, inspiring community cooperation, and oh so much farm food gone bye-bye.
For the most part, people are taking this opportunity to reaffirm the things that matter most, but I know there are some very low spirits among the farmers.

Anyway, it was touching to come home, see this email, and realize how many people are thinking of us up here.