Introduction

Hi, and welcome to my blog, “West Topsham Views.” My name is Ed Pirie, and if you are not familiar with West Topsham, I will help you with the geography. West Topsham is a small village in the town of Topsham, Vermont. The population of Topsham, Vermont is about 1200 people. The village of West Topsham has about a dozen houses, a church, a general store, a post office, a fire house for the volunteer fire department, a cemetery, and a Grange Hall. If you look at a map, you will find the town of Topsham in eastern central Vermont and in Orange County. The town is about 20 miles west of the Connecticut River and New Hampshire.

Ok, the geography is settled. As you might guess, I like life on a small scale. I was born in Vermont and I have lived here for most of my 68 years. This is where my roots are. I cannot bear the thought of ever leaving. I have tried this once and hurried back after a brief stay in Connecticut. My wife and I have raised our family here and my children now have families of their own and they also live in the town of Topsham. My grandchildren are close by and we are spoiled being able to see them often.

This blog is a new adventure and I am excited to have a place where I can share my thoughts and have some good conversations. I think you will find my writing to be casual and respectful. I am a great student of history, an educator, and I will often use my understanding of history to support and anchor my commentary made here. Politically, I am an independent. I cannot bear to let anyone do my thinking for me. I want to reach my own conclusions after a careful look at the evidence and issues.

I am more than concerned about the current state of affairs in this country. This will come out in later posts. I will not leave you guessing as to what I think, but you will find I do not get to my conclusions without being careful and marshaling evidence to support my point of view.

I borrowed the “Pathfinder” from James Fenimore Cooper. I have always enjoyed the woods and finding a way. The paths we choose and the paths yet to be taken are not always clear at the outset. A good look at the lay of the land, and the places we have been can help point us in the right direction going forward. I like to think our compasses share the same cardinal directions, and north for me is also north for you. Our destination should be a good one for all of us.

I also hope to use this space to share some human interest stories. I enjoy telling a story and find most of life very interesting and fun to share. I live where I can be very close to nature and the world of natural science has great fascination for me. I like to garden and raise food. I have a small flock of chickens, currently twelve, and collect the eggs from my girls every morning. These chickens are really pets and share my life with my English Cocker Spaniel, Olliver, and our little Silky, Poppie. I guess you could say, I am their human.

Well, this is a start. Please come back and I will have more to share. I am anxious to get started.