One spring day in northernmost Vermont in 2014, I witnessed my first-ever mudding event. Dozens of people got together in Alburgh, talked, ate, and then did what they came for: got in their trucks, four-wheelers and Jeeps, and made a big old mess in the mud.
Maybe it was the sense of community in that rural place, maybe it was the green of the grass against the grey of the day, maybe it was the idea that playing in the mud wasn’t just for kids, but I’d been wanting to photograph more mudding ever since.
After some Facebook sleuthing, I stumbled across the Southern Vermont Off Road Association, started by a man whose autistic daughter loves to go off-roading with her dad. The group is advertised as family-friendly, especially for parents of kids with or without disabilities. The resulting story, which appeared in the Bennington Banner’s new “Southern Vermont Landscapes” section on Father’s Day weekend, is below:
During the week, North Bennington resident Joseph Barese works as a mechanic at Redeemed Repair in North Hoosick. Saturdays are for errands. As for Sundays, those are saved for his 23-year-old autistic daughter, Sarah.
They usually start at 5 a.m., when Barese wakes up to make lunch for Sarah: rice and pot roast, plus snacks. Then, every other week, he drives to a Chester meeting spot, where Sarah arrives from Claremont, N.H., with one of her caretakers. From there, Barese brings Sarah to that day's meeting spot with the Southern Vermont Off Road Association, the Facebook group he started in 2012. At 11 a.m. sharp, the group sets off, led by Barese's black 2001 Toyota Tacoma as he and Sarah trundle up rocky, wet and muddy trails and into the mountains.
"She just loves it," Barese said. "You can see it in her eyes."
You can also see it in the way Sarah leans her head out the parked truck's window whenever her father walks away. While she's unable to speak, it's obvious what - and who - she wants.
"It's her day with her dad," Barese said. "It gives me joy to do it for her."
