By Marguerite Jill Dye Sometimes we just need to click “pause” to escape from the craziness of everyday life. Full schedules, obligations, media, and events cause many to live in constant distraction. But when we take a few minutes within, our inner nature reveals itself. Pushing the pause button gives us the time to turn experiences…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under a Void-of-Course Leo Moon, that will enter Virgo at around 10:03 p.m. (EST) on May 21. The sun changed signs over the weekend, moving from Taurus to Gemini at 10:15 p.m. on Sunday night.  Venus enters Cancer on May 19,…

By Dom Cioffi My son took a school trip to Washington, D.C., this past week. He was gone for the better part of four days. My wife and I were appropriately excited about his departure – both for the experience he was about to have and the fact that we could enjoy some time alone. Upon…

By Marguerite Jill dye One of our greatest modern day challenges is finding ways to escape chaos and noise. The Finnish Tourist Board released “Silence, Please,” under a series of wilderness photos, each with a solitary figure. “With noise pollution the world round, finding silence is a rare thing,” VisitFinland.com states. “No talking, but action,”…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a just-about-new Taurus Moon, with a bunch of aspects that are overridden by the fact that Uranus will be entering Taurus at 11:16 a.m. on Tuesday, May 15. Uranus is a generational planet. This means that while…

By Marguerite Jill Dye After a big family Mother’s Day Dinner, Mom started to scrub lots of Corning. Said the children, “It’s your day. You shouldn’t wash dishes! Just rinse, and do them in the morning.” From “A Smile, a Chuckle, or a Loud Guffaw or What Happened When I Wasn’t Looking?” This poem in…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under the light of an Aquarius Moon, with aspects that are bound to be casting a shadow on the relationship department. The Moon starts out the week in an exact conjunction with its South Node. This means we will have a…

By Dom Cioffi In my life, I have had deep, personal relationships with three dogs. My first dog – the dog that was already around when I was born – was Skipper. Skipper was a portly beagle with a mild disposition. He could bark with the best of them, but avoided it much of the…

By Kevin Theissen “The only money that’s really yours is the money you spend. Everything else goes to somebody else,” said Teddy Chafolious. That piggy bank we remember from childhood wasn’t just a place to store our birthday money and spare change: it was a lesson, a way our parents encouraged us to get into…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul The big white birds paddling gracefully across a Massachusetts pond last November surprised me. I’d grown up in the town I was visiting and had never seen swans there, although my friend assured me they were resident birds. The only mute swans I’d seen before, years ago, were floating along the…

A little poem I wrote in my 20s still holds true today: A Walk, Just a Walk A walk, just a walk, without destination, not hampered by unhappiness, or pressured by time. A walk, just a walk, that exercised thought, shared a smile, and amused a pup. A walk, just a walk, that awakened memory,…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under the light of Moon that turned full at on April 29. As this column goes to print, the Moon is technically still in its full phase, in the sign of the Scorpion. Ordinarily this would be no big deal. After…

By DJ Dave Hoffenberg The Shrewsbury Community Meeting House in Cuttingsville is the place to be at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 27, for a double bill concert with The Plumb Bobs (Bobs) and Miss Guided Angels (MGA). I had the pleasure of speaking with both George Nostrand of MGA and Marcos Levy of the…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If you grew up in the 50s you probably spent a lot of time outdoors. There were no digital devices to keep your eyes glued to a screen. In fact, many homes in our area were just getting their first television. My parents and those of my friends didn’t allow us…

By Marguerite Jill Dye Climbing a tree is a path to self-discovery. Building a woodland fort is an exercise in creativity. Stepping across a babbling brook develops confidence and brings joy. Our most treasured childhood memories are often from outdoor adventures. While 71 percent of adults played outside as kids, only 21 percent of America’s…