My brother Billie met Ann Wallen when he attended Colton ski camp. Ann was helping out in the kitchen and knew we’d become friends, too. That was the week Dad bought our land under 6 feet of snow from Oren Bates. It was 1958 when Killington was just beginning. When we arrived to begin our…

From the sky, Thousands of snowflakes fall, Layering up, Making mountains of snow. Fluttering down, Like feathers. So beautiful and unique. Just like us, We are beautiful and unique, And don’t let anyone tell you, That you are not, Because, You are amazing, You are beautiful, And you are strong, No one can put you…

The adage that one door closes while another door opens is one I’m sure you know well. In theory, it sounds viable, practical and even doable. In reality, it doesn’t always feel so pleasant. How do you decide which door to close? How do you know you even want that door to close? If you…

Editor’s note: Bruce Bouchard, former executive director of The Paramount Theatre, and his partner Maureen McKenna Padula have traveled from Rutland to the Riviera Maya for the past three years. This series covers adventures, food, and testimonials from Vermont to the tropics. This is the last in the series as they Rutland travelers have now…

A common question that children are asked is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Odds are that their answer will not be the future profession they choose after graduation. I read a survey that was given to children in the U.S. whose ages ranged from 8-12. The child who said he…

I woke up this morning to the sounds of birds chirping outside my window. And not just one lonely, mixed up and confused bird desperately looking for a bite to eat buried underneath the snow. No, this was a plethora of birds, belting out their happy morning songs on another beautifully warm day. Last week’s…

Parents and children, if they’re lucky, will find a multitude of ways to bond. My son and I have been fortunate in this respect because we’ve always found common activities that have brought us closer together.  Early on, we bonded over Legos. I grew up enthralled with the plastic building blocks and subsequently passed this…

Frogs have hopped about Earth since before the time of the dinosaurs, and it shows. Celebrated for their amphibious lifestyle and cacophonous choruses, the long arc of frog evolution has yielded other awesome and efficient adaptations in organs from their lungs to their skin. Research on green tree frogs demonstrates that frog lungs also assist…

Building our Killington Dream dream lodge, Part 7 I felt I was living a double life since everything happened Friday through Sunday. Returning to “normalcy” in New Jersey resembled acting in a surreal play. We knew once we crossed the New York State line and entered Vermont, the magic would start. Our weekends were filled…

Colorful flowers, Purple, yellow, pink and white, Petals of color.

Monday morning and a bright new month begins, albeit on the back foot, as with Mercury, the planet of communication, thinking and logistics hits the brakes and heads in reverse. Don’t expect negotiations, agreements or deals to go according to plan. If you don’t get what you want, then you want nothing at all. These…

By Deborah J. Benoit, UVM extension master gardener It’s no surprise that the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) is the most popular floral gift for Easter giving, but did you know that, contrary to its name, it isn’t a spring-blooming flower? When grown outdoors, they bloom during the summer. Commercial growers go through a carefully timed…

By Debra Heleba, UVM Extension community horticulture director This time of year, when plants are normally in their dormant stage, usually finds gardeners conducting late-winter pruning of apple and other fruit trees. However, recent warmer temperatures may have encouraged many trees to prematurely wake up, causing gardeners to ask, “Is it too late to prune?”…

Editor’s note: Bruce Bouchard, former executive director of The Paramount Theatre, and his partner Maureen McKenna Padula have traveled from Rutland to the Riviera Maya for the past three years. This series covers adventures, food, and testimonials from Vermont to the tropics. This is a story about how the power and beauty of an eco-village…

We were making progress on Dad’s Killington dream lodge, but it was slow going with lots of delays, often due to frequent weather changes. Whenever it rained, water leaked onto the floor. When it was bitter cold, ice carpeted the back room. With electricity in our basement at last, extension cords snaked around the room.…