By Brady Crain I’ve been house sitting in Jersey City for the last few days, and for the next week. I love coming to the city — going to the museums, the culture, the music — except the exhausting roar of tires and air conditioners that is virtually ever present in a New York City…

By Marguerite Jill Dye It was high time we hiked up the Deer Leap trail once again but I’d forgotten what a challenge it was. Even with my twin hiking poles keeping me balanced, placing my feet atop, in between, and over boulders and rocks, carefully picking our way was difficult and tiring. As we slowly…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If you have a garden area that is close to the street you get to meet a lot of people while you work. These people seem to fit into the category of “walkers”—dog walkers, fitness walkers and stroller pushers. I am always happy when one of them stops to tell me…

By Lisa Niccolai Walk through a hardwood forest this month and it may seem more like October than July. Trees that normally provide cool shade have bare crowns with just a hint of green. And is the bark on that sugar maple moving? This is not a trick of the light: you are, in fact,…

By Bret Yates What does it mean that the music video for “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth is now the most viewed YouTube clip of all time? First of all, given the initial conception of YouTube as a repository for user-created (or at least user-uploaded) video, it’s kind of disappointing—although deeply…

Saturday, Aug. 5, 6:30 p.m.—WOODSTOCK— Grab your blanket, picnic basket, and the entire family to experience Farm to Ballet — an early evening, full-length ballet performance at the Billings Farm on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m. The colorful program reinterprets classical ballet pieces to tell the story of three seasons on a Vermont farm — accompanied…

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m.—RANDOLPH— Chandler Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that two of its favorite musicians are returning to Chandler: pianist Simone Dinnerstein and violinist Rebecca Fischer of the Chiara String Quartet will perform a special concert of duos and solos on the Chandler stage, Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m.…

Thursday, Aug. 3, 7 p.m.—RUTLAND— Jay Craven’s new seaside film drama, “Peter and John,” will play Rutland’s Paramount Theatre at 7 p.m.,Thursday, Aug. 3. “Peter and John” marks Craven’s eighth narrative film based in New England — and it was nominated for a 2016 New England Emmy. The director’s previous pictures include five collaborations with Vermont writer…

Sunday, Aug. 6, 4 p.m.—ROCHESTER— The Rochester Chamber Music Society in association with the Vermont Festival of The Arts will present a baroque concert on period instruments, Sunday, Aug. 6 at 4 p.m. at the Federated Church of Rochester. Artistic Director Cynthia Huard on harpsichord will be joined by several string performers from the Boston area…

Saturday, Aug. 5, 7:30 p.m.—BRANDON— New Dakotas are a folk-rock-pop-psych band based in the Boston area, comprised of Alasdair MacKenzie (drums, vocals), Chris Haley (guitar, vocals), Juan Carlos Fernandez del Castillo (piano), and David Baler (bass). The band is out on tour during summer break; MacKenzie, Haley, and del Castillo attend Harvard College and Baler attends…

Tuesday, Aug. 8, 5 p.m.—RUTLAND— The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce’s 36th annual Winter in August celebration will be held Tuesday, Aug. 8, 5-8 p.m. The event is moving back outside this year, under the tents to Merchants Row, between West and Center streets. Winter in August is held annually in recognition of the ski…

Aug. 4-6—LUDLOW— Okemo Mountain Resort will host its annual Hops in the Hills Beer & Wine Festival Aug. 4-6. This is a Vermont Chamber of Commerce “Top Ten Summer Event.” Okemo’s Jackson Gore Inn courtyard will be the setting for enjoying the great outdoors and sampling a variety of beer and wine from regional and…

Friday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m.—GRANVILLE, N.Y.— The Slate Valley Museum welcomes families with youth in grades K-12 to unleash their inner artist and create their own chalk drawings in a friendly art competition at the 3rd annual Chalk Art Festival happening First Friday, Aug. 4 from 7-9 p.m. Youth are invited to make chalk art on the museum’s sidewalks,…

Sunday, Aug. 6, 2 p.m.—ORWELL— Enjoy a guided hike into Revolutionary War history at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell on Sunday, Aug. 6, with Stephen Zeoli. The walk runs 2-4 p.m., and is included with regular site admission of $5 for adults and free for children under 15. Walkers will learn about the stirring…

Friday & Saturday, Aug. 4-5—RUTLAND—The end of July and start of August has marked the annual Downtown Rutland Partnership’s annual Sidewalk Sales event for years. This year, it’s being held Friday, Aug. 4, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. This two-day open-air market spans from lower Center Street around the corner to…