By Cassandra Tyndall A new week brings a change in the Astro-weather. Action planet Mars arrives in Sagittarius, infusing the skies with a dose of enthusiasm and confidence. This once in every-two-years visit can bring a “more the merrier” vibe, especially as it coincides with the holidays and New Year period. This time, Mars will…

By Susan Shea Every year my husband and I cut a Christmas tree on family land. We look for a young balsam fir growing in the power line right-of-way or in a forest clearing. Fir is our favorite type of Christmas tree because of its delightful, pungent fragrance. While Christmas tree farmers cultivate a variety…

By Kevin Theissen The real rate of return is an important personal finance concept to understand. It’s the rate of return on your investments after inflation. The real rate of return indicates whether you are gaining or losing purchasing power with your money. So, if inflation checks in at a rate of 3%, does that…

By Dom Cioffi I was lucky enough to grow up next to a municipal playground. I could run from my back door to acres of limitless fun within 60 seconds. A pool, jungle gyms, baseball field, a hill that was perfect for winter sledding, and numerous tennis and basketball courts were always at my beck-and-call.…

Rutland County Humane Society (RCHS) has a fabulous opportunity to end 2021 with a bang! Two very generous supporters have offered to donate $20,000 to RCHS if the community will match it by Dec. 31, 2021. What a great opportunity to help the homeless animals in Rutland County! Before you know it, we will have…

By Merisa Sherman It’s crunchy season. A gorgeous afternoon, with the shining sun strong in the sky, but the ground beneath is the loudest it will be all year. A few inches of beautiful snow had melted back to reveal snowy patches alternating with leaves frozen on the ground. It was like a chorus of…

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="194740" img_size="full" alignment="center"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=".vc_custom_1582852508329{margin-top: 40px !important;}"][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_raw_html]JTNDc3BhbiUyMGNsYXNzJTNEJTIyaWNvbmlmeSUyMiUyMGRhdGEtaWNvbiUzRCUyMm1kaS16b2RpYWMtYXJpZXMlMjIlMjBkYXRhLWlubGluZSUzRCUyMmZhbHNlJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGc3BhbiUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text="Aries" font_container="tag:h2|text_align:center" use_theme_fonts="yes"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1568082984251{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}"] March 21 - April 20 [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When it comes to your professional life, as well as your overall life direction, a turn of events may occur this week. You might decide or circumstances may dictate a change in direction thanks to new…

By Cassandra Tyndall December is an interesting month. On the one hand, energies are amplifying as they usher us into a new year, while on the other, closures and endings clear the space. As one door closes, another door opens.  This week sets the scene for ongoing relational structures to be examined and changed, as…

By Sandra Dee Owens Living without running water for 8 years was the hardest part for me. In our early 20s my husband and I had bought a small piece of land with a burnt-down house on it. It was cheap and had important features we needed in order to shift from homelessness to first-time…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If you are a skier or snowboarder you must be excited that the time has come to do what you love! However, just because we live in this beautiful state doesn’t mean that we all love snow! If you are here to hit the slopes, you are probably saying to yourself,…

By Dom Cioffi During one of my late-night forays into the depths of YouTube, I stumbled upon a video of a guy playing individual keys on a piano while his young son, who had his back turned, rattled off the identifying notes. Once they finished with individual keys, they moved onto chords, whereby the kid…

By Lee Emmons Come winter, after the bears have retreated to their cold weather dens, many backyard bird enthusiasts hang feeders to attract — and nourish — avian visitors. Birds need more than a supplemental food source, however. Whether they are roosting, feeding, selecting a nest location, or flying from one grove of trees to…

By Merisa Sherman It was dark when I got out of work. The recently fallen snow was glittering in the golden lamplight. We had gotten so much snow that the birch trees above my car were bending under the weight. I shuffled my boots under the snow, the fluffy white snow poofing upward with every…

It’s time for the Critter Community holiday card, a holiday tradition for 42 years! You can participate by making a donation to the Rutland County Humane Society (RCHS) and providing us with the exact name you want on the card. It can be your name or your pet’s name, or in memory of a loved…

By Kevin Theissen The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law last week, and the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) passed the House of Representatives and moved on to the Senate. For decades economists have tried to determine how spending on infrastructure — roads, bridges, canals, railways, broadband and other projects —…