Columns
Mountain Times columnists share personal experiences on themes they’ve chosen as a focus. Find a personality you relate to and follow them weekly!
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Bees are at home in natural holes and hollows
February 11, 2025
On a subzero morning, I clip into skis and head out across my meadow, gliding between desiccated husks of sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) poking up above the snow. I imagine this spot eight months ago, as I watched bumblebees, mason bees, and sweat bees forage among them. Back then, in June, the world was exploding…
Farewell to the Skyeship
February 5, 2025
As we came through the mid-station the other day, the lifty handed us a sticker and asked if we would put it on the cabin for him. Not really paying attention, we took the sticker and looked down. The sticker announced the final days of the Skyeship. That 1990s art gallery in the sky is being…
Look, up in the sky!
February 5, 2025
It’s been almost one year since my family traveled to Vail for a ski vacation. I have a brother who lives in Denver, so we like to visit annually. While we’re there, we take advantage of the looming Rocky Mountains and the fun they offer. After a couple of days in the Mile High City,…
Valentines Day from yesteryear
February 5, 2025
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. In today’s world it’s a holiday filled with romance and love as shown through flowers, candy and a special dinner. However, the origin of this day does not have romance associated with it. According to history it began as Saint Valentine’s Day and was added to the Catholic…
February musings: love, laughter, and community connections
February 5, 2025
Happy Valentine’s Day! Where would we be without friends and loved ones? Valentine’s Day gives us an excuse to celebrate all of our friends and family. February is the month of love, and hopefully, we are surrounded from all directions. Love and kindness make a difference and are never wasted. Please add a random act…
Northeastern hawks soaring through winter
February 5, 2025
Driving on Vermont’s Interstate highways in winter, I often notice large hawks perched in trees on woodland edges at regular intervals along the road. With the stark landscape providing better visibility and many bird species gone for the winter, this is a great time of year to hawk-watch. The raptor I see most along the…
‘The Fire Inside’: When an Olympic gold medal isn’t enough
February 5, 2025
One of the history-making stories at the 2012 London Olympic Games was the addition of women’s boxing to the competition. The United States, which had struggled for decades to win any medal in the boxing category, won the first gold medal awarded in the 75 Kg Middle Women division, thanks to 17-year-old Flint, Michigan resident…
Warrior or sheep?
February 5, 2025
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Do you know what you stand for, or are you following the crowd? Safety in numbers. It’s easy to be a sheep. Not everyone is a warrior. Though how do you know unless you find out? Alas! A warrior, like it or not, is what…
Bone-chilling cold
January 29, 2025
I can feel my shoulder blades clenching together, harshly forcing my shoulders open. The tightness extends down my spine, stiffening my back to the point where it’s hard to rotate around my lumbar spine. My arms drop from my shoulders, aching pain, and I can feel the tingle all the way down to my fingertips.…
Picture this
January 29, 2025
I purchased my first iPhone nearly 15 years ago. I would have jumped on board earlier, but the product wasn’t available in my little Vermont town. Prior to that, I had several flip phones, but I was always pining for Steve Jobs’ glorious invention. I just looked back, and it appears that I took…
More than a nest: Squirrel dreys
January 29, 2025
In the starkness of winter, squirrel dreys reveal themselves in the tree canopy. They’ve been there all along — just screened by trees’ leafy crowns for much of the year. Dreys are shaggy masses of leaves nestled against a tree trunk or cupped in a fork of branches 20 to 40 feet above the ground.…
“The Pitt” is a high-energy thrill ride that ups the ante for medical dramas
January 29, 2025
Network television thrives on three styles of genres: police procedurals, legal procedurals, and medical procedurals. “Grey’s Anatomy” is in the midst of its 21st season. “Chicago Med” is in its 10th season, and new shows such as “Brilliant Minds,” “Doctor Odyssey,” and the comedic “St. Denis Medical” are all focused on the medical genre. Of…
Academy Award nominations for 2025
January 29, 2025
The nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards came out on Thursday, Jan. 23, and any year where four of my top film picks get nominated for Best Picture and Director, I can’t complain. Out of the 10 nominees for Best Picture, I’ve seen eight, and seven of those I’ve reviewed for The Mountain Times since…
Parking restrictions
January 29, 2025
The state of Vermont is in charge of transportation restrictions, with one big exception. The state has empowered local municipalities to regulate parking within their areas of jurisdiction, provided the restrictions are posted. Brattleboro does not have overnight street parking anywhere in the city, and the streets are littered with signs declaring the restriction. West…
The cost of conformity
January 29, 2025
Some words, once spoken, can’t be taken back. When a piece of information is shared or revealed, it’s very difficult to hide it again. Collectively, we are on a timeline where, for some, the truth is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish. Meanwhile, for others, there’s never been any question about the difference between a lie…