'Basic problem of human conduct'

"Vermont tradition is based on the idea that group life should leave each person as free as possible to arrange his own life. This freedom is the only climate in which (we feel) a human being may create his own happiness. ... Character itself lies deep and secret below the surface, unknown and unknowable by others. It is the mysterious core of life, which every man or woman has to cope with alone, to live with, to conquer and put in order, or to be defeated by.''

-- Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958)

Mrs.  Fisher was an education reformer, social activist and best-selling author. She was originally from Kansas but eventually moved to Vermont, which she loved. She died in Arlington, Vt., in the gorgeous valley between the Green Mountains and the Taconic Range. (See pictures below.) She became a luminary of the Green Mountain State and was the first woman to be awarded an honorary degree by Dartmouth College (across the Connecticut in New Hampshire).

At the Vermont State House, in Montpelier (the smallest state capital, but considered hip).

Sleepy downtown Arlington, in southwestern Vermont. In the summer, the area swarms with vacationing and weekending New Yorkers bearing much appreciated cash and credit cards to be used at the area's many inns, restaurants and expensive shops.

The Taconic Range.