Vermont

Vermont is the destination for a winter visit that brings the narrator, Michael, Sharon Wagner, and Sharon’s husband together near Stowe. The stay is both a practical ski trip and a setting for shared domestic moments: a meal by the fire, an overnight closeness between the young couple, and a clear, cold morning prepared for skiing.

Setting and Journey

Sharon and her husband offer to drive the narrator to their place near Stowe on Friday. The trip is expected to take about seven hours, and the hosts plan to return home on Monday afternoon. This makes the visit a short stay rather than an extended holiday, with the journey and the couple’s home providing its frame.

After Michael and Ike finish unloading the car and everyone has unpacked, the four sit around the fire with mugs of steaming coffee mixed with brandy. The arrival scene establishes the home as a welcoming shared space, where the visitors settle in together after the drive.

The Stay Near Stowe

The evening also introduces Sharon’s work and ambitions. She is an anthropologist employed by the Museum of Natural History and hopes to go on a field trip, perhaps during the summer. The narrator asks her to speak at the school’s Career Day in April; Sharon readily agrees. The invitation matters to the narrator’s guidance counselor, Mrs. Handelsman, who has difficulty finding enough interesting speakers, especially young women. The visit thus connects the private hospitality of the Vermont home with the narrator’s interest in encountering women in professional fields.

The travelers are tired after the journey. When Sharon begins yawning, the others do too, and Ike suggests that they go to bed. Sharon and Ike retire to their room; Michael tells the narrator she can use the bathroom first. They sleep with their arms around each other until Ike’s voice wakes them in the morning, making the overnight stay part of the couple’s growing physical intimacy as well as a pause between travel and skiing.

A Cold, Sunny Ski Day

The next day is sunny and cold, without wind, and Michael considers the weather perfect for skiing. The narrator layers long underwear, a turtleneck, ski pants, a sweater, two pairs of socks, and snow boots, so heavily dressed that movement is difficult. The concrete preparations make the outing feel physical and immediate: the ski day begins with weather, clothing, and breakfast rather than with the slopes themselves.

Sharon is still asleep while Ike has breakfast on the table: cereal, eggs, and buns. Michael passes the narrator a plate without raisins, remembering from New Year’s Day that she dislikes them. In this small act of attention, the Vermont visit echoes an earlier shared occasion; the remembered preference shows how ordinary details have accumulated significance within their relationship.