By Susan Shea There was a sucking sound as my rubber boot sank into the deep black muck. Naturalist Jon Binhammer and I were standing in the middle of a hardwood swamp in central Vermont. Above us, dainty red flowers clung to the still-bare branches of red maple trees and fat black buds encircled the…

Every few years, the old chestnut of the 13th signs gets re-opened, leading everyone to think their star sign has changed. It hasn’t. While sharing the same name, the constellations and the Zodiac are not the same thing. Around the time that ancient sky priests were observing correlations between earthly matters and celestial events, the…

By DJ Dave Hoffenberg It was an exciting week of softball. One team stayed undefeated with the most thrilling win in league history and another stayed winless by choking away what could have been a thrilling victory. Both of the losers in those two games blew big leads. The first loser at least rebounded with…

By Dom Cioffi I’m officially over Covid-19. In fact, I’m over the year 2020 in general. Admittedly, when this whole quarantine thing started back in March, I experienced a bit of mild excitement mixed with cautious trepidation. Most of the excitement came from the thought of working from home. I have long grumbled about my…

By Merisa Sherman There’s a place I go to hide. It’s just a few paces off the beaten trail but somehow no one ever seems to be there. I maneuver past whichever old — but not quite rusted — pickup truck seems to be blocking my secret path that day and duck my head underneath…

The Outside Story By Rachel Mirus As you swat away blackflies this summer, look closely; it may be that not all those flies are flies. Some of them might be tiny sweat bees, members of the Halictidae family, which gets its common name because some species will lick sweat from human skin. Sweat bees are…

Killington Softball League game recaps By Dj Dave Hoffenberg The defending champions, Defend Title Fantastically (DTF), finally got in the win column, but it was not easy. They started the game going down 1-2-3 and First Stop Board Barn (FSBB) practically hit through their order, scoring five runs. Tall Tom Gilligan got DTF on the…

It all begins with a sacred quest. To begin, one must have a vision of perfection that will undoubtably not be met but must be strived for in any case. One might journey deep into the forest, a solo mission filled with dedication to a high standard. A lone branch, peeping out from underneath a…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If you planted a veggie garden in late May you are looking forward right about now to picking the “fruits of your labor.” At our house we have been enjoying radishes and lettuce for a few weeks. The beet greens are plentiful enough that we have cut them back and steamed…

By Dom Cioffi Anyone who is into music will undoubtedly remember their first live concert. Mine was a doozy, setting the excitement bar for what would be a lifelong love of live entertainment experiences. My friends and I had just graduated from high school and were reveling in a summer of fun before we headed…

By Kevin Theissen It seems the local real estate market has picked up recently, perhaps due to people wanting to move from larger cities to more rural areas. How the gains from the sale of a primary residence are taxed has changed in recent years. If you have recently sold your home, or are considering…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul We were touring the neighborhood backroads one summer evening when the kids noticed a sleek movement through a small pond. At first, we thought it was a beaver, but its smaller size and – once we got a closer look – slender tail revealed this swimmer as a muskrat. It went…

By Cassandra Tyndall One of the signature themes of 2020 is the fusion, known astrologically as a conjunction, of Jupiter and Pluto that occurs three times. The first was in April, then June and the third time will be November. Together, Jupiter and Pluto signify many things, some of which can be great wealth, hidden…

By Commissioner DJ Dave Hoffenberg The pandemic season finally got under way. There a few adjustments the guys have to get used to but playing softball is not one of them, filling a team though, was a problem for one but a bonus for another. The first game featured Defend Title Fantastically (DTF), the defending…

By Dom Cioffi I was 11 years old at the beginning of the summer of 1978. At that time, my world revolved around the local municipal swimming pool just around the corner, whiffle ball games in the street with my friends, and a small white radio that I listened to music on. The radio had…