The story of Laughing Crow Farm
Laughing Crow Farm exists on forty acres in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Back in ‘97, my husband, Matt, and I decided to settle in this rural corner of the state after we graduated from the University of NH. He worked for the state, as a fish & wildlife guy, and I found work as a science and math teacher at Burke Mountain Academy. We eventually purchased this land, and with youthful gusto, cleared it with an old 1942 Ford 9N. We had a local builder assemble a replica 1800s cape farmhouse from a kit, built a barn ourselves (and then another and another with wood from our land, sawed up by my dad next door ). Gardens came next and then the animals.
Eventually, Matt became the county forester, I shifted to teaching younger students, and we welcomed our two daughters, Erin & Maggie, into the world. They were raised with the conscientious intention of allowing them to be in nature as much as possible and to form a connection to the land and the wild & domesticated animals here. Over the years, we’ve taken in many rescue animals - first 3 sheep, then a donkey, then chickens and more sheep and a mule and mini horse, more chickens, a couple demon geese, and of course a few good dogs and cats. We also established a side hustle up the road, Langlais Family Tree Farm, which adds to our workload for half the year but keeps us truly connected to the land. We try our best to be good stewards to both of these properties, which we love tremendously.
We acknowledge that this land was once home to the Western Abenaki and we respect, recognize, and honor them and the stewardship they once offered to the land and water.
Why “Laughing Crow”?
When I was about 12, my dad came home one day with a baby crow that we decided to name “Bert”. I was a nature nerd already and regarded him as the absolute coolest pet. Bert became part of our menagerie of animals and was the silliest (and smartest) of our critters. Although this was in suburban CT, we had protected wild land all around us and Bert eventually started becoming wild and figured out how to join a flock of resident crows. He would, however, return to us whenever we screamed out his name; his recall was than any of the dogs I’ve ever owned! I eventually went to UConn to study Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (partly because of this unique childhood connection to a wild creature) and then to earn a master’s in Natural Resources from UNH. Although I focused mainly on trees and forest ecology, I’ve always loved birds and corvids specifically.
Fast forward to the first year of being a mom, when my daughter’s months-long colic seemed never ending. The only way to soothe her was to step outside and give her lots of stroller or backpack time. On the coldest days, we’d put on our boots and pace back and forth in the back yard with her in the sling. I can still vividly remember the day I was at wits’ end pacing out there, feeling desperate, tired, and cold, when I heard him — Laughing Crow — his distinctive rising “oooooooo” followed by a quick descending “HA!” His call (message?) wasn’t quite crow-like but yet I definitely knew it was a crow. I immediately thought that he was telling me to chill out and enjoy the ride, and pay attention to all the older mamas who were telling me that “this too shall pass”.
We enjoyed hearing Laughing Crow’s calls (messages?) for many years after that point. Then he went silent. We figured he must’ve died. But a few years later I heard him — or was it his offspring? - once again “laughing” (yay!) and occasionally thereafter he’d send out that distinctive and loud “oooooooo HA!” to anyone who might be listening. Although it’s been several years since I heard that laugh, I know that if I ever hear it again, the timing will be perfect. Thank you, Laughing Crow.
A little about me…
I consider myself first and foremost a teacher. Then a scientist. Then an artist. (Of course, there’s other labels too: wife, mom, daughter, animal lover, etc. and the order probably doesn’t really matter much anyways). I’ve been teaching in some capacity since 1995 — science, math, nature education, music, cultural studies, art. Independent schools, public schools, non—profits, community organizations, colleges… I enjoy all ages and the act of explaining stuff and seeing the light bulb go off in other people’s minds.
As a kid, I’d spend hours drawing with a pencil and paper and I relished the intersection of math & art in geometry and engineering drafting. However, I have no formal art training. I am a self-taught felter who loves the colors and textures of wool. When I am presented with the visual and sensory aspect of this medium, I’m like a kid in a candy shop. But I try not to drool. I have dabbled in watercolor painting, printmaking, knitting and sewing but wool felting is definitely what I enjoy the most.
