This New England

-- Commentary and photo by WILLIAM MORGAN

Remember all those handsome 19th-Century signposts that added to New England's quaint flavor? If they did not fall into disrepair, they were replaced by over-zealous and ever more aesthetically illiterate highway departments, or they ended up in antique shoppes or on the walls of cozy theme restaurants.

But once in a while an out of the way marker survives to remind us of the seriousness of demarcations, especially between two New England neighbors whose borders were often changed. This granite post marks the state line between Barrington, R.I., and Swansea, Mass. (MASS. is carved on the reverse).

Best of all, this simple boundary notice has, thanks to the lichen, become a work of art--an sentinel stele recalling a more primitive civilization.

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This may give people ideas, which is just what we need. And the possibilities in southern New England, where's there's more sun than up north, are even better.

Central Vermont Public Service is building a 50-kilowatt solar power array along Route 7 in Rutland, the biggest town in central Vermont. Good visibility and so good promotion for solar.

Not only that, students from the Stafford Technical Center will build or install a lot of it. They'll also be working at a nearby hydro-power facility.

Vermont is the Granola State but its push for alternate energy is more than touchy-feely.

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There are already 45 cases of swine fly at the Coast Guard Academy, in New London, Conn. The fall looks rather sickly in New England as everyone is thrown together indoors again, especially students.

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New Englanders beware: There are new, Nigerian-style financial scams now using the good name of the Canada Revenue Service in e-mail messages. The specificity of their offers are impressive. I was told I could get a tax refund from Ottawa of $366 if I just....

In other regional news, the AP reports that Angel Rolon, of New Britain, Conn., got a summons from Hartford police for causing a multi-car crash that, police say, he blamed on his being distracted by trying to catch two baby pet garter snakes that had escaped from his pocket. Garter snakes, which are sort of New England's official snakes, are famously friendly.

 Tags  Central Vermont Public Service Coast Guard Academy garter snakes solar array swine flu

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