Quechee Gorge
16 in. x 20 in., acrylic on canvas
$270 (framed)
A mile long and 165 feet deep, Quechee Gorge in Quechee (Hartford) VT has been an enduring source of wonder and awe for me since I was a small child and we lived in Andover, NH. My parents would regularly travel the bridge crossing the gorge in the painting (which is U.S. Route 4) to a Whitehall, NY campground with our camper in tow for summer weekends. It was our custom to pull into the Quechee Gorge gift shop for a "pit stop" and to walk out onto the green bridge for a look down into the deep canyon where the Ottauquechee River burbled and splashed below. My mother was afraid of heights and was a good sport, but really could not tolerate being on the bridge near the railing for more than a minute or two. Me? To this DAY there is nothing more thrilling than walking out to the middle bridge seam, waiting for one of those heavy-laden Vermont logging trucks to thunder over the span and feeling the roadway shudder and flex under my feet. The misty, distant atmosphere looking up the narrow chasm from the surface of the water, the steep, metamorphic rock walls like a deep, great hall, the verdant Vermont foliage, and the beautiful, familiar curve of rust-spotted, green bridgework captures this beloved and special place for me.
