My brother was having dinner two nights ago at a restaurant near his home town of Airmont, New York. Now this is quite far from Danville, Vermont - my hometown. It was my brother & his wife, a friend and her husband, and another couple (friends of the friends). During the conversation my brother Matt said "My nieces are visiting my brother in Danville, Vermont". The friend-of-a-friend's husband said "Hey, my brother lives in Danville, Vermont". After relating the incident and the names, it turns out that my stepson had a mad crush on the daughter of the brother of the friend of the friend's husband. So to recap: The husband of a friend of a friend of my brother's second wife is the father of a girl that the son of my seconds wife had a crush on back in third grade.
And yet, we go to town meeting every year, and just within the town are these stories - going back centuries. There are people in my town that vote a certain way because of some relationship gone sour over a hundred years ago. It's not the Hatfields and McCoys, it's just Danville. And as a postscript to this paragraph I should point out that the newcomers to town make the case for their perspective at Town Meeting and wouldn't you know it but all the regulars label them "n00b" and off we go. It's a "you hadd be there" day like none you've ever seen.
Getting Ready for Town Meeting: 4 Degrees of Separation
