Our Man in Arlington

Last week, the Barton’s took one more summer trip. This time it was a quick six-day sojourn to Vermont and Cape Cod; Vermont for a conference on postal issues (part of my pre-retirement life), Cape Cod for a two-day visit with Ev and Bernice Munsey, long-time Arlington friends. (Ev was a member of the Arlington County Board in the early seventies.)

In Vermont, we stayed at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe. It is a lovely place, obviously reminiscent of the Sound of Music and the world-renowned Trapp Family Singers, who settled in Stowe after leaving Austria subsequent to its 1938 takeover by the German Nazis. The fact that the Sound of Music only imperfectly reflects the actual life and history of the Trapp Family Singers mattered not a bit. There is a lot to be said about escaping from reality for a bit and staying in what seemed like an elaborate movie set without the lights and cameras.

Another fantasy experience was our tour of the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory near by. It was where Ben and Jerry’s was invented and is the focal point of its world-wide ice cream empire today (now owned by the international conglomerate, Unilever, but still run by Ben and Jerry and their management team).

The one downside was the rain. We traveled to Vermont in the rain accompanying the transit of what was left of hurricane Francis through New England. It rained hard for the first three days of the trip, ending on Saturday, when we left Stowe for Cape Cod.

The highlight of our short stay in Cape Cod, other than seeing the Munseys and their in-laws, was attending the Sunday service at West Parish at Barnstable, the oldest Congregational church in the world! The congregation was established in England in 1616, part of the rebellion against the Church of England that culminated in the execution of Charles I and the rise of Oliver Cromwell. Before that, however, after a significant conflict with the king including persecution and imprisonment, the small congregation and its minister were allowed by Charles I to emigrate to Massachusetts in 1634.

The Barnstable church was built in 1717 and has been renovated and restored several times since then, the last restoration being in 1957. It is an exquisite example of New England church architecture that has become one of the symbols of our American culture. From the outside, it is a fairly large, very simple white clapboard structure rising the equivalent of about three stories, with a steeple tower containing a Revere bell. Inside, however, is where its character asserts itself. The interior space rises the entire three stories, with two levels of seating, the top level being a balcony surrounding the interior space on three sides. Large windows surround the interior space, twelve panes on twelve panes, urging the congregation to look outside and up to the sky.

The interior space is devoid of symbolism except for a wooden cross on the raised wooden pulpit that soars above those who sit on the main floor. Burnished honey-toned pine dominates the interior – wooden pews, wooden family boxes, wooden pulpit, and wooden walls, much of which dates back to the eighteenth century.

Jean and I were reminded of our trip to Russia last year. There we visited the Church of the Transfiguration at Kizhi. The church was built in 1714 and is made entirely of wood with twenty-two onion domes– wood that through the centuries has developed a sheen that makes the domes look as if they were covered with silver when the sunlight hits them. Inside, the church and all of its decorations and icons are wood, contrasting with the riot of color seen in most other Russian Byzantine churches. The comparison was stunning to us.

So now back to the mundane. Next week, perhaps we can get into the equally interesting world of Arlington politics!