By Merisa Sherman It was dark as I pulled into the parking lot, but a beautiful glow from the almost full moon lit up the trees that surrounded the lot. The clouds prevented a perfectly clear night, giving the sky an almost eiry Halloween feeling — even though we are almost two months past. With…

By Merisa Sherman I could feel the snow melting underneath my feet, as I swung my oldest, bestest ski sister around by the elbow. We were dancing in the joy of the moment and celebrating our 35-year-old sisterhood. Then we grabbed the next elbow, a woman who has never ski raced a day in her life,…

By Merisa Sherman Taking a deep breath, I open the car door and swing my feet out of the car. I grab the emergency handle and pull myself out. It’s been a few days of this and already I can feel which muscles have been lingering all summer long and I wonder how people must…

By Merisa Sherman Never doubt The Beast, the biggest and best in the East “Wishing and waiting and thinking and praying, planning and dreaming …” I know that’s the start of the song made famous by Dusty Springfield in 1964, but it’s also the mantra that I have been repeating to myself for the past few…

By Merisa Sherman A few lights litter the shoreline across the way, seemingly more like super bright fireflies than the building that they truly are. Different colors, ranging from white to yellow to red, mark the hillside and the farthest location along the 360 degree outline of the mountain range. The dark hillside seems more…

By Merisa Sherman It’s hot. I mean, not like Arizona hot but way too hot for November hot. Like, who are we kidding here with the crazy non-snowmaking weather? These consecutive and beautiful sunny warm days that don’t seem to stop. I am kind of confused as to whether or not our entire state has…

By Merisa Sherman I adjusted the mask on my face for like the 15th time that day. The hard plastic kept scratching my face and I knew, I just knew, that I would have a big mark for, like, the next few weeks. My dad and I had cut a mask so it worked perfectly…

By Merisa Sherman Brrr, it has been getting chilly lately. I know, because I am sitting here snuggled up in my favorite down puffy coat getting warm by the remnants of the Killington Block Party bonfire. It’s still going strong this morning after reaching to the treetops last night. Whereas last night, it was surrounded…

By Merisa Sherman We let the dogs lead the way, frolicking and bouncing as is their want when they are just 10-month-old black labradors. A full zest for everything they can possible sniff along the way but always wanting to keep mom in visible range. This young gentleman never ventured further away than a retractable leash would…

The reds are popping, the yellows are vibrant and the greens are glittering. Even the locals cannot get enough of the beautiful transition that turns Vermont from the Green Mountains into a symphony of nature’s beauty. Vermont becomes a postcard state, where tourists run around with cameras attached to their faces, stopping their cars in…

When buying local art, you get more than just the thing It was a classic Vermont autumn morning, with just enough chill in the air to remind you to stand in the sunshine to soak up the warmth. After an almost frosty evening, the perfectly blue sky was a welcome sight and the few trees…

I got out of work on Saturday around 11 p.m. and like so many of my compatriots in the restaurant industry, I am always too restless to go home. To go from the mad dash of bartending to the stillness of my house is always an eerie feeling and some nights I just can’t handle…

By Merisa Sherman The crowd gathered slowly, but you could feel the energy was there, just under the surface and waiting for the excitement that was to come. It was a subdued kind of energy, with people quietly chatting while they ate their lunches, sipping on local draft beer and catching up with friends they…

By Merisa Sherman My big plastic boots feel heavy this early in the season, as I continue to pass one foot in front of the other. I meander my plastics around roots and rocks, careful not to teeter totter on the pointy ones. They might look brutal to hike in, but over these years these beloved…

By Merisa Sherman The fog came across the summit of the mountain in waves, wisps of clouds making their way across the sky. There had been no clouds down below, but here, sitting at the top of the mountain, the fog was so think you would think you could step right off the rocks and…