A morning driving around Burlington, Vermont (just about fifty miles south of Canada). First stop was the World’s tallest filing cabinet. A rusty 40-foot-high tower of stacked file cabinets welded together.
Then to Union Station because it has a Flying Monkey on the top because.. (goes to look up the reason)…
The first winged monkey appeared in Burlington, Vermont in 1975, sculpted into the roof line of an historic old building on the corner of Bank and St. Paul Streets. The sculpture was commissioned for a store called Emerald City of Oz. Emerald City was a waterbed store and a politically motivated gift boutique. This first creature was positioned so that he begged discovery, crouched, ever vigilant, always on guard, and softly bathed in green light. An icon was born.
His mate emerged from the primordial soup behind a slate turret on the south side of the same building. These two mythical creatures were sculpted in steel by Steve Larrabee (1950 - 2011). For the better part of ten years, they stood their post in downtown Burlington.
Businesses changed hands, addresses changed and Burlington's winged monkeys, threatened by zealots, flew south for a two year hiatus, mounted on giant rocks, deep in the forest. Emerald City reopened in 1988 and the winged monkeys landed on Shelburne Road, on the southern edge of town.It was here that tragedy struck. In September, 1992, the original sentry was ripped from his post by thoughtless and foolish hooligans. He was kidnapped and held against his will in a mysterious cell, parts unknown. He was gone.
A pall fell across the land.
The search was intense, but leads turned up empty, and the trail grew cold. After 6 months, his replacement was conceived in the workshop of sculptor Larrabee. A Crimestoppers Tip in May of 1993 instigated an undercover stakeout and the South Burlington Police Department caught the kidnappers in a botched transfer. After three days in a police locker, the proud creature, battered and beaten, was returned to his anxious guardians and his ever attentive mate. Literally days after the homecoming, his replacement arrived. This glorious new creature was sculpted in copper, wings back, in heat, baying at the moon. Her little fingers grasped the edge of the gable roof as she seized her haunt and screamed in silent delight. She was a blue species, and now, with diversity, there were three.
In 1996 the original pair, flew to the clock tower that was once Union Station and is now the ever vibrant Main Street Landing.
The copper goddess with the silent scream landed on the edge of a wood, amidst a patch of wild blackberries in the cities north end. Once again, the better part of a decade passed.
Businesses changed hands, addresses changed and Burlington's winged monkeys, threatened by zealots, flew south for a two year hiatus, mounted on giant rocks, deep in the forest. Emerald City reopened in 1988 and the winged monkeys landed on Shelburne Road, on the southern edge of town.It was here that tragedy struck. In September, 1992, the original sentry was ripped from his post by thoughtless and foolish hooligans. He was kidnapped and held against his will in a mysterious cell, parts unknown. He was gone.
A pall fell across the land.
The search was intense, but leads turned up empty, and the trail grew cold. After 6 months, his replacement was conceived in the workshop of sculptor Larrabee. A Crimestoppers Tip in May of 1993 instigated an undercover stakeout and the South Burlington Police Department caught the kidnappers in a botched transfer. After three days in a police locker, the proud creature, battered and beaten, was returned to his anxious guardians and his ever attentive mate. Literally days after the homecoming, his replacement arrived. This glorious new creature was sculpted in copper, wings back, in heat, baying at the moon. Her little fingers grasped the edge of the gable roof as she seized her haunt and screamed in silent delight. She was a blue species, and now, with diversity, there were three.
In 1996 the original pair, flew to the clock tower that was once Union Station and is now the ever vibrant Main Street Landing.
The copper goddess with the silent scream landed on the edge of a wood, amidst a patch of wild blackberries in the cities north end. Once again, the better part of a decade passed.
There was great joy.
The blue goddess flew to the waters edge and trumpets from the theatre on the lake.
Joy.
Her clarion call, while but a whisper to us, pierces the primeval veil and lures a rogue male, blue too, what were the odds? From beyond the veil, he lands on the cupola above the Theatre, where he lures his siren sweet.
Again joy.
Across the land.
For now,... as has been,... in the dark of night, and in the blink of an eye, the flying monkeys of Burlington, Vermont soar over the mountains, glide over the lake and serve as our mythical protectors.
For indeed they do. Fantasy is real.
Ask a child. Ask any child.
These creatures of the sky keep us forever young. — MonkeysWithWings.vom
Inside the station the toilet was locked (boooo) but Alberto opened it (hooray).
He retired, but went back to work at the station because he likes meeting people. He’s seventy-nine. He told us many stories about when he was in London, one of which was being sent to Tesco with a list of things to buy. At the end it said to buy a hundred rolls so he went to ask at the bakery. They said that was a lot and they were closing soon, and asked to look at his list. No, they said, not a hundred rolls - loo rolls.
It looks like they’re standing on a pier, but it’s a slow moving boat.
We’d planned to go to the hotel via Bennington but after the clocks went back it gets darker earlier and I was getting tired so back into New York, and to our hotel in Troy.
Passed a sign that said; “Mountains are not just funny; they’re hill areas.”