By Dom Cioffi I’ve just returned from a week vacation in the mountains of Colorado. My wife, son and I journeyed to Aspen where we stayed at a beautiful hotel at the base of the main mountain. In fact, the gondola that takes you to the top of the hill was literally a few steps…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of an “old” Aquarius Moon. We could talk about a million different things, one of which might be what happens when the Moon leaves its waning phase and starts to wax toward fullness again – but we’ve covered…

By Dave Mance III Act One opens in a forest on the western slopes of the Taconic Mountains in southwestern Vermont. A man in his 40’s is walking with his former high-school geology teacher – a man now in his 70’s. Amid the towering trees, they come across a VW bus-sized boulder, sitting alone and…

ByKevin Theissen The Social Security program allows you to start receiving benefits as soon as you reach age 62. The question is, should you? Monthly payments differ substantially depending on when you start receiving benefits. The longer you wait (up to age 70), the larger each monthly check will be. The sooner you start receiving…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Not only do I qualify as an “oldie” but apparently my favorite hobby is classified by some as a “lost art.” I am told that numerous times as customers take a look at my items when I do a craft show. My hobby began by doing cross-stitch items. My mother always…

By Marguerite Jill Dye “The power that made the body heals the body,” Dr. Joe Dispenza affirmed, after being hit and thrown by a semi truck during a triathlon. He replaced his fear by visualizing the reconstruction of his spine, which instructed his body to heal his spine, one vertebra at a time. He recovered…

By Dom Cioffi My family and I are currently on a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado. It’s funny, just writing those words sounds entitled. Saying you’re on a ski trip to Killington is one thing, but a ski trip to Aspen is a whole different animal. The fact is, I could never afford a vacation…

By DJ Dave Hoffenberg Tuesday, March 5, is not only Town Meeting Day, it’s also Fat Tuesday  or Marti Gras!  To get you in the mood, the Pickle Barrel has the Funky Dawgz Brass Band on Thursday, Feb. 28. You can expect a high energy, dance, funk and hip-hop infused party. I had the pleasure…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a void-of-course Scorpio Moon, a moon that will remain in the mode until it enters Sagittarius at 4:19 p.m. When the moon is void-of-course it is pointless to try to accomplish anything, so this gives us the…

By Marguerite Jill Dye “I’ve been busy all my life – why stop now?” said Norman Lear with a grin at age 94. The legendary sitcom producer helped advance America in recognizing and confronting sexism, racism, and bigotry through humor. He started the conversation by daring to produce his avant-garde societal comedy-critiques. “All in the…

Who among us wants to pay the IRS more taxes than we have to? While few may raise their hands, Americans regularly overpay because they fail to take tax deductions for which they are eligible. Let’s take a quick look at some of the most overlooked opportunities to manage your tax bill. Reinvested dividends. When…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul A few winters back, a doe  frequented our compost heap. The garden fence around it proved an inadequate barrier, as she simply hopped over it to nosh on the rotting shards of jack-o-lanterns and the latest veggie scraps tossed atop the pile. Not far from the garden sits an old orchard,…

By Dom Cioffi There is a small plaza exactly one mile from my home. It has a grocery store, a pizza joint, a donut shop, a dry cleaner, and a few other typical neighborhood establishments. It’s a very convenient location, not just for me, but for the hundreds of other people who live around the…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Leo Moon, on the day that the Sun enters Pisces, and Chiron crosses the Aries Point. With President’s Day also just behind us, things are in a state of embroilment that makes it hard to know…

By Mary Ellen Shaw The method for obtaining information on any subject has certainly changed since my school days in the ’50s and ’60s. I remember my mother getting a set of encyclopedias earned with her grocery store purchases. The books had a green, hard cover and they came into our home one by one…