From Burlington, VT to Albany, NY

As we move west, the rolling green hills of Vermont flatten into the bustling highways of New York. We’ve made stops at Healthy Living Market in South Burlington, Upper Valley Co-op in White River Junction, and Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany. Munching on cherries from a side-of-the-road market, we discuss our observations.

The practice of letter-writing tends to carry “old-fashioned” connotations. As technology becomes more and more prevalent, our older loved ones are being forced to go digital and attempt to keep up with the ever-changing whims of email, then Facebook, then the newest iPhone. In the Tree-Free booth, the tables have started to turn as the younger generation attempts to familiarize themselves with a different form of communication – tentatively scribbling a message, licking an envelope, and pulling out a phone to check an address.

One visitor, Gail, told us about her grandchildren, who are scattered throughout the U.S. from California to Kansas. She sends them cards frequently, and she recently heard them laughing in the next room as they compared “Nana Notes.” Another visitor, Craig, told us about his own plans to write to his grandmother. “My grandma’s in Florida, and she’s in a nursing home now and I don’t get to see her often. I’ve inherited a lot of her writings, and I’ve been reading through them and playing editor, so hopefully I can publish them someday! I’d love to write her and tell her it’s so cool what she’s done.”

A letter takes more thought than a quick text, and it’s a lot longer than 160 characters, but it certainly bridges that generational divide that so many people speak about. And speaking of age, Will would like to offer up this joke:

What did the aged wine say to the young beer? “Stop acting like such a Yuengling.”

Cheers!