I love my work -- Nick Cowles

A man who exudes joy in his pores talks about saving his orchard -- a digital story.

I first met Nick Cowles in 1998, my first year in Vermont, when my family went to his orchard in Shelburne. The best way to describe Nick is to say he’s a “character,” and he’s a man who’s a gnat’s thigh from bursting out laughing. Always. Even when he’s pissed.

A year or so before the pandemic, I asked Nick if I could take pictures of his orchard — and of him and his workers — for a year. “Sure,” he said. So I did. I went over whenever the light was good at all hours of the day in all four seasons.

I wanted to interview Nick and had an idea of starting a series called “I Love My Work” on the theory that a) people who love what they do are usually good at it and b) they also have lots of stories.

Nick declined. “Nah,” he’d say, smiling, and he’d turn and walk away.

One day, though, he called me. “If you can get over here at 4:30 I can give you 30 minutes. That’s all. I have a concert tonight.” Yes, a man who’s worked on trees and apples and operated heavy machinery and has fingers the size of most people’s thumbs plays the mandolin. Pretty decently, too.

So I interviewed him. For 29 minutes. In the space where he makes apple cider in the fall and brandy in the winter (at least he makes it and then puts it in barrels for 7-10 years).

This story is a distillation (sorry) of that interview and of a year’s worth of pictures. Enjoy. (And see if you don’t laugh at the end.)