When we first arrived in Brattleboro, we were charmed by the idea that we have a full-fledged circus school in town. I had dreams of the circus back in the day myself. Lee took a community class to learn the basics of German Wheel, and we’ve been to several NECCA performances.

A couple of years ago, the circus school announced its intention to move from its current digs in the old Cotton Mill complex to a brand new building over on Putney Road. While I lament the loss of funkiness, from the perspective of the school’s leaders I can certainly see advantages to a newer, brighter space.

As part of the capital campaign underway to build that new building, NECCA received this painting as a donation. It’s by Paul Stone, whose dental practice was located in our home for many years (before it was our home…). We see Paul from time to time, as he plays cards next door most weeks. He gave us the original blueprints for the building after he found them in his closet a year or two ago. Vermont has a lot of barn painters, but there’s something about his paintings… palette, shadows, who knows… that has appealed to us from even before we knew we were buying his building.

Soooo…. wouldn’t it be awesome if the painting ended up gracing a wall in Paul’s old building? So full-circle, so meant-to-be. Wouldn’t that be just the best pre-Christmas present EVER???