By Merisa Sherman I keep moving. I can feel my ski slide underneath me as I collapse onto my front leg. With each stride, I move forward, onward and upward through the darkness. I swing my left hip forward, feeling the resistance of my skins as I drag my ski along the snow. Paying close…

By Dom Cioffi There’s an old saying that suggests that every decision we make is either based on love or fear. I’ve always found solace in that proverb and try to remember it when I am evaluating something in my life that requires judgement. How often do we say things or have an opinion on…

By Kevin Theissen Much of the focus of the new relief package has been on the $600 payments to individuals, but the 5,000+ page act covers a lot more including, small business loans, funding for the Covid-19 vaccine and unemployment. Refundable tax credit The $600 individual payments, in addition to the $1,200 payment under the…

By Michael J. Caduto Last June, my wife Marie and I encountered a mature wood turtle while walking through a forest near our home. We admired the intricate topography of its shell, inspiration for this species’ scientific name: Glyptemys (“carved turtle”) insculpta (“sculpted”). The 9-inch adult had brownish-black skin and scarlet-orange patches on its neck…

By Cassandra Tyndall If a change is worth making, the time it takes is worth taking. It’s easy to feel inspired by possibility, especially if you’re not satisfied by the current status quo. Dreaming up goals, making plans and thinking about the end point can help us visualize a better future. Without a sense of…

The top live shows I attended in the region this past year By DJ Dave Hoffenberg 2020 was an incredible year, like none other. I’ve never seen the world look forward more to a new year like everyone did for 2021. Don McLean sang about “the day the music died” in his hit song “American…

By Cassandra Tyndall One of the highlights this week, and of this month, is the movement of action-planet Mars into Taurus. Thanks to an extremely long and rare trip through Aries, this is the first time in nearly six months we’ll have the opportunity to change the direction of our goals, plans and projects. Fast…

By Dr. Glen Molette 2021 is here, and will it be just another year? If it’s just another year then that won’t be bad at all because too many will not have another year. The opportunity and privilege to have another year is the gift of life. Being alive and living your life is about…

Flipping the switch from boring—to “woohoo!!!” By Sandra Dee Owens Have you ever yearned to do something but were afraid to try it? Climbing out of the mid-October water, I excitedly hopped up and down at the effectiveness of my winter “swimsuit” against the plummeting air and water temperatures. The previous morning, before dawn, I…

Well, there you have it. The worst year in recent memory is officially over. There seems to have been a collective sigh of relief around the world as 2020 gave way to an increasingly hopeful 2021. Like most others, I spent New Year’s Eve at home. My son slept overnight with a friend so that…

By Merisa Sherman It’s chaos. Between the chairlift motors and the crowds, the noise is almost deafening. As we ski along, we are focused on the turns of all those with whom we are sharing the trail and attempting to anticipate their movements. In a split second, we must judge the downhill skier in front…

By Susan Shea Mornings are quiet now. Gone is the loud chorus of bird song outside my window that I awoke to in spring and summer. While we brave the cold, snow, and bitter winds of winter by donning extra layers or throwing another log on the fire, most of our summer birds have departed…

By Kevin Theissen After a year of living with the fear of Covid-19, many investors are hoping 2021 will bring a return to “normal,” even if the new normal may not be exactly like the old one. Optimism about the future has many investors feeling bullish, according to most of the sentiment surveys listed in…

By Merisa Sherman It happened on a bluebird day in March, as we were descending from the summit of Mt. Washington. We watched as an old mountaineer stepped out of the clouds below, diligently following the rocky, snow covered trail. He walked slowly, the long wooden handle of his mountaineering axe serving more like a…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Dating is often a time when you try to be good at something…even when you are not! With ski season just beginning I am reminded of my diehard attempts to strap on skis and get from the top to the bottom of Pico. It’s not that I had never skied before,…